Energy-Level Alignment at Metal-Organic and Organic-Organic Interfaces in Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells

Ultra violet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements in combination with the Integer Charge Transfer model is used to obtain the energy level alignment diagrams for two common types of bulk heterojunction solar cell devices based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) or poly(2-methoxy-5-(3’,7’-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene) as the donor polymer and (6,6)phenyl-C61-butric-acid as the acceptor molecule. A ground state interface dipole at the donor/acceptor heterojunction is present for both systems but the origin of the interface dipole differs, quadrupole-induced in the case of poly(2-methoxy-5-(3’,7’dimethyl-octyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene) and integer charge transfer state based for poly(3-hexylthiophene). The presence of bound electron-hole charge carriers (charge transfer states) and/or interface dipoles is expected to enhance exciton dissociation into free charge carriers, reducing the probability that the charges become trapped by Coulomb forces at the interface followed by recombination.