Organic solar cells with submicron-thick polymer:fullerene bulk heterojunction films

We report the viability of organic solar cells with submicron-thick bulk heterojunction films, which were fabricated by mixing poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester at a solid concentration of 90 mg/ml. To elucidate the physics behind the thick film solar cells, optical transmittance and electrical characteristics were compared for film thicknesses between 520 and 1000 nm. Results showed that the device (520 nm thick film; efficiency=3.68%) exhibited similar performance to that of a control device (170 nm thick). A decreasing device performance was measured for much thicker films (efficiency=0.34% for the 1000 nm thick device).