Current voltage analysis of silver nanoparticle doped organic photovoltaic devices

Organic photovoltaic devices utilizing surfactant free thermally evaporated metallic nanoparticles to aid in light absorption were fabricated. These devices were characterized with a number of methods, including current voltage (JV) testing, UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, and AFM. The JV results were further analyzed using a simple lumped circuit model combined with a model to relate the carrier collection efficiency with the lifetime-mobility product. These findings indicated that while these nanoparticles did in fact increase the absorption, they suffered from high recombination that led to a decrease in the efficiency. The devices with nanoparticles located close to the electrodes had the highest recombination. Sandwiching the nanoparticles in the active layer proved useful in decreasing recombination and creating a well-functioning device.