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Toward Mean Field Theory for Multi-Phase Donor/Acceptor Interfaces in Organic Photovoltaic Cells
Alon Shapira , Nir Gavish , Arik Yochelis
Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
Department of Mathematics, Technion - IIT, Haifa, 3200003, Israel
Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices focus much attention due to their potential to provide economically viable sources of cheap, lightweight, renewable energy alternatives. One of the critical components of OPVs is the active layer labyrinthine-type donor/acceptor morphology, which allows relatively high efficiencies by increasing the surface area for charge generation Nevertheless, theoretical studies of charge separation and transfer dynamics in OPVs thus far, had neglected the possible morphological evolution during operation. Consequently, a novel mean field model is being developed to incorporate the feedbacks between donor/acceptor morphologies and spatiotemporal charge properties, i.e., a nonlocal far from equilibrium theory. Specifically, the focus is on the instabilities that govern the interfacial donor/acceptor properties and rich multi-phase structures, i.e., generation and sensitivity of the labyrinthine morphology. The approach is expected to provide a systematic understanding of OPV operation, and in particular to shed new light on degradation mechanisms related to morphological instabilities.