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High-performance polymer solar cells are conventionally fabricated on the rigid and costly indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass substrates, which are incompatible with the roll-to-roll process with low cost. This study shows that polymer solar cells can be made on ITO-free flexible stainless steel with only a moderate compromise in power conversion efficiency. A blend of poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) was used as the active material for the inverted structure. The bottom electrode was an alloy of Al and Au spontaneously formed from a bi-layer during thermal annealing of the active layer. This alloy had a low work function of 3.9 eV, and a high resistance to oxide formation throughout the entire process. Semi-transparent Ag was used as the top electrode. These solar cells on stainless steel had an efficiency of 2.6%. The majority of the loss came from the top electrode transmission at approximately 60%. This all-metal approach makes roll-to-roll polymer cell fabrication possible.

High performance bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells with blade-coated active layers of POD2T-DTBT blended with [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) are demonstrated in this work. The blade-coated cells exhibit power conversion efficiencies of up to 6.74%, which is comparable to those of conventional spincoated cells but obtained with just a fraction of the material amount used for spincoating. The choice of solvent and the process conditions are manipulated to achieve dense, well-separated morphology which increases the interfacial area for charge dissociation in the blend film. The blade coating technique can be applied in the fabrication of large area, high performance OPV cells with highly efficient materials usage.

An efficient visible-to-infrared conversion film is made by blending CdTe quantum dots (CdTe QDs) of 12 nm diameter in a polyvinylpyrrolidone 360 (PVP 360) polymer matrix cast by water solution. The solid-state photoluminescence quantum efficiency exceeds 10% with emission peak at 810 nm. Strong 810 emission is obtained by combining the quantum dot film and a green polyfluorene light-emitting diode. Color filter is used to remove residual light below 780 nm to make it entirely invisible. Infrared photo-detector is made by blending poly[5-(5-(2,5-bis(decyloxy)-4-methylphenyl)thiophen-2-yl)-2,3-bis(4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)phenyl)-7-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine] (PBDOTTP) with band-gap 1.2 eV and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). The pixel contains one PD

Efficient inverted bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) organic solar cells fabricated by rapid-drying blade-coated were demonstrated. Optimized self-organization interpenetration networks and donor/acceptor domain sizes were obtained while maintaining the smooth surface morphology. By integrating with low-temperature-processed sol–gel ZnO electron extraction layer, power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 4.4% under AM1.5G 1 sun illumination is achieved, compared to fast drying but low efficiency (1.2%) and high efficiency but with long-time solvent annealing treatment (4.3%) control cells deposited by spin coating in chlorobenzene (CB) and 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB) solution, respectively. The novel deposition technique reveals a promising process for highly efficient, high throughput, stable morphology organic solar cells fabrication.

An ultra thin implantable system using flexible organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic photodetectors (OPDs) on parylene substrate shows biocompatibility and high conformability on any surface. This system was used to monitor variations in cerebral blood volume (CBV) corresponding to an epileptic seizure, along with baseline signals such as heartbeat, respiration and slow sinusoidal hemodynamic oscillations (SSHOs). As such, this system shows strong potential for implantable and/or wearable biosensors for continuous health monitoring.

a b s t r a c t We reported a low band-gap conjugated polymer, poly(2,3-bis(4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)phenyl)-5,7- di(thiophen-2-yl)thieno(3,4-b)pyrazine) (PDTTP), was studied for the near infrared (NIR) photo-detector application. PDTTP shows intense absorption in NIR wavelength (to 1000 nm) and the estimated optical and electrochemical band-gaps of PDTTP are quite small around 1.15 eV and 1.08 eV, respectively. The low band-gap and the extended long wavelength absorption originates from the introduction of alter- nating TP units when its parent polythieno(3,4-b)pyrazine shows excellent narrow band-gap properties. Therefore, the relatively low band-gap and intense absorption in long wavelength of PDTTP make itself a promising candidate for near-infrared photo-detector. The hole mobility of the PDTTP measured from the bottom contact field effect transistor is around 1.40 × 10 −3 cm 2 /V s with a on/off ratio of 2100. The photo-detector based on bulk hetero-junction PDTTP and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester blend (PCBM) has the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency 28.9% at 1000 nm (−5 V) and 6.2% at 1100 nm (−5 V). This photo-detector can be operated at a high-speed of 1 MHz. The experimen- tal result suggests the potential applications of low band-gap conjugated polymers on near-infrared photo-detectors.

A near-infrared proximity sensor array is achieved by integrating a polymer light-emitting diode and a polymer photodetector (PD). A green emission is converted into deep red peaked at 670 nm by the inorganic phosphor Intematix R670 with quantum efficiency of over 20%. A bandpass filter is used to select a spectral tail of phosphor luminescence with a wavelength above 700 nm. The emissive polymer is green polyfluorene. The infrared PD contains a thick film of a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester up to a thickness of 8 m. Position of a moving object at a distance of 10 cm is detected in real time by the array with dynamic images displayed on the computer screen.

New low band gap thiophene-phenylene-thiophene (TPT)-based donor-acceptor-donor random copolymers were synthesized for optoelectronic device applications by a palladium-catalyzed Stille coupling reaction under microwave heating. The acceptors included 2,3-bis(4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)phenyl)-5,8-bis[5'-bromo-dithien-2-yl-quinoxalines] (DTQ) and 3,6-bis(5-bromothiophen-2-yl)-2,5-bis(2-ethyl-hexyl)-pyrrolo[3,4-c]-pyrrole-1,4-dione (DPP). The prepared random copolymers were named as PTPTDTQ(0.55), PTPTDTQ(0.34)DPP(0.14), and PTPTDTQ(0.26)DPP(0.34) depending on the copolymer ratio. The optical band gaps (Er) of PTPTDTQ(0.55), PTPTDTQ(0.34)DPP(0.14), and PTPTDTQ(0.26)DPP(0.34) were 1.74, 1.56, and 1.48 eV, respectively. The hole mobility obtained from the field-effect transistor devices prepared from PTPTDTQ(0.55), PTPTDTQ(0.34)DPP(0.14), and PTPTDTQ(0.26)DPP(0.34) were 2.2 x 10(-3), 2.4 x 10(-3), and 4.7 x 10(-3) cm(2) V s(-1), respectively, with the on-off ratios of 4.0 x 10(4), 4.0 x 10(4), and 5.3 x 10(4). It suggested that the significant intramolecular charge transfer between the TPT and acceptor led to the band gap reduction and hole mobility enhancement. Polymer solar cells of these TPT-based copolymers blended with 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1-phenyl-[6,6]-C-71 (PC(71) BM) under illumination of AM 1.5G (100 mW cm(-2)) solar simulator exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 3.71%. Besides, the near-infrared photodetector device prepared from PTPTDTQ(0.26)DPP(0.34) showed a high external quantum efficiency exceeding 32% at 700 nm (under -3 V bias) and fast-speed response. This study suggests that the prepared TPT-based donor-acceptor random copolymers exhibited promising and versatile applications on optoelectronic devices. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2351-2360, 2010

This study aims to achieve high directionality and large extraction of light emission from polymer light-emitting diodes via optimizing photonic crystals (PCs). The optimization is achieved through the optical modeling using a 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and the intelligent numerical optimization technique, genetic algorithm (GA). In results, the PC period, depth and filling factor can be found. The FDTD method has been proven very effective for modeling complex multilayer PLED devices in which the electron-transporting layer is only a few tens of nanometers away from a metallic layer. On the other hand, GA is a powerful tool to cope with a complicated optimization problem with multiple variables to optimize. The optimized PCs are later fabricated by focused ion beams (FIB) for the PLED. With desired PCs, an increase of the extraction efficiency in excess of 46% is achieved experimentally and the 3D FDTD calculation explains this result faithfully.

Polymer bulk hetero-junction solar cells of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) donor and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) acceptor are fabricated by blade coating in toluene solution. Desired donor–acceptor self-organization is achieved without the slow drying process and high boiling point solvent. Power conversion efficiency is 3.8%, much higher than the 2.6% obtained by spin coating in toluene solution. The blade coating method has nearly 100% material usage and can be integrated in the roll-to-roll process with high throughput production.

An Organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells are cheap alternatives to conventional silicon-based solar cells. The devices take the advantages of high optical absorption and carrier mobility of inorganic semiconductors, while maintaining the easy processing attributes of polymers or other soft materials. However, the conduction of holes has been a major technical barrier for the advance of such novel devices. In this study, we propose the use of silver nanowires (AgNWs) to improve the series resistance of the hybrid solar cells and further to realize solution-processed silicon-based photovoltaics. The hybrid silicon heterojunction solar cells are demonstrated based on the composite of conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS directly spun-cast on a micro-textured n-type crystalline silicon wafer, followed by the Meyer rod coating of AgNWs as the frontal metal contacts. The cross linked AgNWs offer high transparency and low sheet resistance, which can be easily fabricated using low-cost and non-toxic materials. Moreover, the industrial-standard microscale surface textures improve the antireflection and carrier collection without increasing much surface recombination. As a result, the device current density-voltage characteristics reveals a high power conversion efficiency of 6.8% under a calibrated illumination intensity of 1000 W/m2 of the AM1.5G solar spectrum, shedding light into the attainment of rapid solution processed silicon hybrid heterojunction solar cells.

In this paper, hybrid heterojunction solar cells are demonstrated based on a highly conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS directly spun-cast on an n-type crystalline silicon with microscale surface textures. The fabrication conditions suggest that the organic coverage on the micro-textured surface is excellent and key to achieve high efficiency. The simple solution-based fabrication processes achieved a cell power conversion efficiency of 10.2%. Device modeling had been performed to investigate the interface defect density dependence of cell performances. A power conversion efficiency of above 20% is projected for the hybrid heterojunction cells, showing promises for low-cost photovoltaics.

A bulk heterojunction organic solar cell with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the donor and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the acceptor is deposited using blade coating on a hot plate at 80 °C with hot air of 70 °C applied from above. In contrast to the 30 min of conventional dichlorobenzene solvent annealing, the rapid-drying blade coating forms a dry film in 1 s. The fabrication throughput is substantially enhanced. The blade-coated film has a smoother surface roughness of 3.5 nm compared with 10.5 nm for solvent annealing; however, the desired phase separation in the 50 nm scale forms despite the rapid drying. A single layer solar cell exhibits power conversion efficiency of 4.1% with blade coating in chlorobenzene, which is the same as solvent annealing device. A multilayer device with carrier blocking layers fabricated entirely of the less toxic toluene also exhibits efficiency of 4.1%.

In this work, hybrid heterojunction solar cells are demonstrated based on a conjugate polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) directly spun-cast on micro-textured n-type crystalline silicon wafers. The fabrication conditions suggest that the organic coverage on the micro-textured surface is excellent and key to achieve high efficiency, leading to an average power conversion efficiency of 9.84%. A one-dimensional drift-diffusion model is then developed based on fitting the device characteristics with experimentally determined PEDOT:PSS parameters and projects an ultimate efficiency above 20% for organic/inorganic hybrid photovoltaics. The simulation results reveal the impacts of defect densities, back surface recombination, doping concentration, and band alignment.

A continuous roll-to-roll compatible blade-coating method for multi-layers of general organic semiconductors is developed. Dissolution of the underlying film during coating is prevented by simultaneously applying heating from the bottom and gentle hot wind from the top. The solvent is immediately expelled and reflow inhibited. This method succeeds for polymers and small molecules. Uniformity is within 10% for 5 cm by 5 cm area with a mean value of tens of nanometers for both organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and solar cell structure with little material waste. For phosphorescent OLED 25 cd/A is achieved for green, 15 cd/A for orange, and 8 cd/A for blue. For fluorescent OLED 4.3 cd/A is achieved for blue, 9 cd/A for orange, and 6.9 cd/A for white. For OLED with 2 cm by 3 cm active area, the luminance variation is within 10%. Power conversion efficiency of 4.1% is achieved for polymer solar cell, similar to spin coating using the same materials. Very-low-cost and high-throughput fabrication of efficient ...

Polymer photodetectors with voltage-adjustable photoresponse from visible to near infrared range are demonstrated. Poly(3-hexylthiophene) and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend is used as the active layer. The photoresponse can be continuously adjusted by the thickness of the active layer as well as the applied voltage bias. The thickness of the active layer is varied from 250 nm to 16.2 μm. The mechanism for the photoresponse adjusted by the thickness can be attributed to the absorption of the photons in the infrared range by thick PCBM layer. The mechanism for the photoresponse adjusted by the applied bias can be attributed to the carrier recombination reduction when the applied bias increases. The adjustable photodetector also has high operating speed up to 10 kHz.

The direct influence of the vertical carrier mobility on the frequency response of bilayered organic photodiodes (PDs) is investigated for the first time. With fullerene as the acceptor material, changing vertical hole mobility from 2.3×10−5 to 2.8×10−4 cm2/V s increases PD bandwidth from 10 to 80 MHz under a 4 V operation. The influence of deposition rate on vertical hole mobility of pentacene film is also discussed. Our results facilitate the application of bilayered organic PDs on the detection of very-high-frequency optical signals.

A proximity sensor that combines a polymer light-emitting diode and a polymer photodiode is presented. The operation wavelength is in the near infrared from 700to850nm. The infrared emission is obtained by adding a color conversion film of polyvinylpyrrolidone polymer matrix blended with infrared dye 1,1-diethyl-2,2-dicarbocyanine iodide to a red polymer light-emitting diode. The photodetector relies on the direct charge-transfer exciton generation in a donor-acceptor polymer blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester. The detection distance is up to 19cm for objects with various colors and roughness under ambient indoor lighting.