Magneto-electrical properties of nickel phthalocyanine thin film and its application in organic solar cells

• Published in: Solar energy Vol. 231; pp. 623 - 629
• Main Authors: Rawat, S.S., Rana, A., Kumar, Ashish, Swami, Sanjay Kumar, Srivastava, R., Suman, C.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2022; Pergamon Press Inc
• Subjects: Buffer layers; Conductance; Electrical properties; Energy conversion efficiency; Impedance; Magnetic properties; Nickel; NiPc; Organic solar cells; P3HT:PCBM; Photovoltaic cells; Polymers; Relaxation time; Shunt resistance; Solar cells; Solar energy; Spectroscopy; Spin interactions; Thin films; Traps; Trions; Spin interactions; Traps; P3HT:PCBM; Trions; NiPc; Impedance; Organic solar cells
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2021.12.008

(a) Absorption & PL spectra of NiPc thin film, (b) The variation of MC with the magnetic field at different bias voltages, (c) Schematic structure of organic solar cells, and (d)J-V curve of organic solar cells with NiPc layer. [Display omitted] •Magneto-conductance (MC) and opto-electrical properties of NiPc layer have been explored.•Transport properties & the MC study have been discussed with trap assisted bipolaron mechanism.•The thermally activated mobility is calculated in SCLC region from the J-V characteristics.•The NiPc thin film has been successfully introduced in organic solar cells.•The PCE of organic solar cell using 15 nm NiPc buffer layer is 3.17%. The nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) thin film has been explored for magneto-conductance and optoelectrical properties. The surface morphology and the opto-electrical properties of thin films of NiPc have been observed as a good candidate for the applications in polymer solar cells. The AFM images show an almost continuous surface over the studied area. The spin interaction, the disordering of the spins part, and their suitable models have been discussed by the magneto-conductance properties of the thin films. The relaxation time of carriers and traps filling phenomena with applied bias are discussed by the impedance spectroscopy. The thin films of NiPc have been introduced as a hole interface buffer layer in the standard structure of P3HT: PCBM solar cells. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the optimized solar cell with NiPc is ∼3.17% and the fill factor (FF) is ∼69%., these device parameters are higher (PCE increased by ∼65% and FF by ∼39%) as compared to the organic solar cells fabricated without NiPc thin films in the same batch. The improved performance of organic solar cells attributed due to lowering the series and shunt resistance.