A modelling and simulation approach of electromagnetic field in organic photovoltaic devices

Of the many properties of materials, the optical properties are undoubtedly among the most useful and interesting, specially for inorganic and organic semiconductors. In this paper, we report our results on the electrical and optical modelling of a mono or multi-layer organic photovoltaic device, in which the incident light of sun is absorbed in the active layer. The influence of the optical parameters and thicknesses of different layers had been taken into account to improve the device performance. A composite of poly (2-methoxy-5-(39,79-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene-vinylene) (MDMO-PPV) and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is used as photo-active material, sandwiched between a transparent Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-electrode and an Al backside contact. This study aims to show essentially the optical effects of an extra interfacial layer of poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/(poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) on top of the ITO-electrode. Our objective is to present a combination of two matrix-based method which makes it possible the description of electric and magnetic fields according to the total impedance of the system. The essential result of this work is the minimization of losses in the generation rate of charge carriers for an organic solar cell, produced by the insertion of a protective layer. In addition the reflectivity versus the active layer thickness and the angle of incidence has been discussed. © 2005 World Academic Union.