Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures on P3HT and on Its Photovoltaic Blend with PC71BM

Jing Cui; Álvaro Rodríguez-Rodríguez; Margarita Hernández; Mari-Cruz García-Gutiérrez; Aurora Nogales; Marta Castillejo; Daniel Moseguí González; Peter Müller-Buschbaum; Tiberio A Ezquerra; Esther Rebollar

doi:10.1021/acsami.6b09053

Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures on P3HT and on Its Photovoltaic Blend with PC₇₁BM

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Nov 23;8(46):31894-31901. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b09053. Epub 2016 Nov 11.

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (IEM-CSIC) , Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
² Instituto de Química Física Rocasolano (IQFR-CSIC) , Serrano 119, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
³ Lehrstuhl für Funktionelle Materialien, Physik-Department, Technische Universität München , James-Franck-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany.

PMID: 27805362
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b09053

Abstract

We describe the conditions for optimal formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) over poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) spin-coated films. Optimal LIPSS on P3HT are observed within a particular range of thicknesses and laser fluences. These conditions can be translated to the photovoltaic blend formed by the 1:1 mixture of P3HT and [6,6]-phenyl C₇₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) when deposited on an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode coated with (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Solar cells formed by using either a bilayer of P3HT structured by LIPSS covered by PC₇₁BM or a bulk heterojunction with a P3HT:PC₇₁BM blend structured by LIPSS exhibit generation of electrical photocurrent under light illumination. These results suggest that LIPSS could be a compatible technology with organic photovoltaic devices.

Keywords: grazing incidence X-ray scattering; laser-induced periodic surface structures; organic photovoltaics; polymer films; semiconductor polymers.