A simple methodology to evaluate organic solar cell structure and its fabrication processes through reliability studies

A convenient test-bench for quickly assessing the degradation and stability of an organic electronic device is proposed. The extent of degradation is quantified by the decrease in the current flowing through the device at a particular bias. The three parameters considered to affect the degradation are time, charge fluence through the device and energy dissipation in the device. Data from experimental results on different organic devices, especially bulk heterojunction devices with a blend of poly (3-hexylthiopene) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-buytric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) shows that the charge fluence has a direct bearing on the extent of degradation. The estimated parameters from measured data using the proposed model helps compare quantitatively the extent and cause of degradation for a given device as well as compare the robustness of under various operating condition, the devices fabricated with different material, device structure or processes.