Kinetic Monte Carlo modeling of low-bandgap polymer solar cells

Numerical simulations based on kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) techniques provide a powerful and versatile tool to gain a deep understanding of nanoscale processes in bulk organic heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells and to guide their optimization. Low-bandgap polymer donor materials count as constituents for novel cells with improved efficiency, mainly because they extend the absorption to the infrared region. We developed a kMC model which is able to accurately reproduce the current-voltage (JV) characteristics of an organic solar cell consisting of a blend of low-bandgap polymer and fullerene active materials with different active layer thicknesses.