Continuous lateral gradients in film morphology for position sensitive detection and organic solar cell optimization

Abstract

We present a method to fabricate binary organic donor and acceptor blends exhibiting a controlled lateral gradient in morphology. Upon combining photometry, ellipsometry and Xray maps together with photoinduced absorption measurements, we show how the gradual exposure to solvent vapor results in a varying degree of polymer crystallinity for the polythiophene/soluble fullerene system along one direction. These morphologically graded samples are characterized by a spectral photoresponse that depends on the specific location in the area of the device where the light beam impinges, a property that stands as proof-of-concept for position sensitive detection. Moreover, we demonstrate that the development of graded morphologies is an effective one-step method which allows for fast performance optimization of organic solar cells. Finally, the appropriateness of eight different solvents for morphology control via vapor annealing is evaluated in a time-effective way using the advanced method, which helps to identify boiling point and solubility as the key processing parameters.