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Effect of the oligothiophene chain length on the performance of organic photovoltaic cells

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Abstract

We investigate photovoltaic cells based on α-oligothiophene molecules with different chain lengths nT (n=4,6,8) deposited on a sandwich structure between two electrodes: ITO and Al. From the analysis of the absorption and photocurrent spectrum, we have shown that the structure of the oligothiophene affects considerably the absorbing character of the evaporated film, which is increasingly significant from 4T towards 8T, and a significant photocurrent in agreement with strong absorption in the region Al/nT. Moreover, a theoretical model of Ghosh is used to display the photocurrent origin, proved to be sufficient after adjustment with a random term. Then we deduce that the crystalline order of the film improves the transport of charge and the photocurrent. The results are confirmed by electrical characterization under illumination that shows effectively an influence of the expansion of the molecular chains on the increase in the energy efficiencies and on the performances of organic photovoltaic cells.

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Acknowledgements

The first author would like to thank and express her gratitude to Dr. Fayçal Kouki and Prof. Habib Bouchriha, directors of research in UMAO, Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Quantum Phenomena (University El-Manar, Tunis), for their helpful and critical discussions to accomplish the study. I also express my thanks to Mr. Gill Horowitz and Mr. Philippe Lang, directors of research in ITODYS (University Paris 7) for their assistance and support in experimental studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, UMAO, Campus Universitaire, 2092 El-Manar I, Tunis, Tunisia

    Hanène Bedis & Fayçal Kouki

  2. ITODYS (UMR 7086), Université Paris Diderot (Paris 7), Bâtiment Lavoisier, 15 rue Jean de Baïf, 75205, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Habib Bouchriha

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  1. Hanène Bedis
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  2. Fayçal Kouki
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Correspondence to Hanène Bedis.

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Bedis, H., Kouki, F. & Bouchriha, H. Effect of the oligothiophene chain length on the performance of organic photovoltaic cells. Appl. Phys. A 110, 163–171 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7046-8

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