Simulation of the Buxton-Clarke Model for Organic Photovoltaic Cells

By: J.W. Jerome, M.A. Ratner, J.D. Servaites, C.-W. Shu, and S. Tan


Modeling of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells can be achieved by adaptation of drift-diffusion models. Replacement of traditional crystalline solid state materials by organic materials leads to much lower carrier mobility and to a new carrier, the exciton, which is a bound electron-hole pair. The Buxton-Clarke model includes electrons, holes, and excitons, together with generation, dissociation, and recombination mechanisms connecting these carriers, partially induced by device illumination. Device materials consist of a polymer:fullerene blend, poly(3-hexylthiophene): 6,6-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM). In this article, the model is used to simulate an active layer of 20 nm; results include I-V curves and carrier current densities. This paper was presented at IWCE-14, and has been published: International Workshop on Computational Electronics, IWCE, 26--29 October, 2010, Pisa, Italy. Pisa University Press, pp. 195--198. IEEEXplore, DOI:10.1109/IWCE.2010.5677981