Influence of NiOx hole-transporting layer on the light absorption of the polymer solar cells

Abstract

Polymer solar cell composed of the blend bulk- heterojunctions is fabricated by the conjugated polymer as donor material and fullerene as acceptor material. P3HT and PCBM are chosen in the present study. The effect of the NiOx layer on the light absorption of the polymer solar cell is investigated via the transfer matrix of the multilayer dielectric film, Maxwell equations and photon absorption equation. NiOx as alternative material of PEDOT:PSS in polymer solar cell can redistribute the electromagetic field of device and effectively improve the light absortption. in the device with structure of ITO/HTL/P3HT:PCBM/LiF:Al, and the effects of PEDOT:PSS and the NiOx on the performance of device are investigated by numerical simulation. The results show that the optimal NiOx layer device with a thickness of 10 nm has a larger short-circuit current, filling factor and energy-conversion efficiency than the 40 mm thick PEDOT:PSS device.