Bilayer–ternary polymer solar cells fabricated using spontaneous spreading on water

A new method is presented to fabricate bilayer organic solar cells via sequential deposition of bulk-heterojunction layers obtained using spontaneous spreading of polymer–fullerene blends on a water surface. Using two layers of a small bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole polymer–fullerene blend, a small improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 4.9% to 5.1% is obtained compared to spin-coated devices of similar thickness. Next, bilayer–ternary cells are fabricated by first spin coating a wide bandgap thiophene polymer–fullerene blend, followed by depositing a small bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole polymer–fullerene layer by transfer from a water surface. These novel bilayer–ternary devices feature a PCE of 5.9%, higher than that of the individual layers. Remarkable, external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) over 100% are measured for the wide bandgap layer under near-infrared bias light illumination. Drift-diffusion calculations confirm that near-infrared bias illumination can result in a significant increase in EQE as a result of a change in the internal electric field in the device, but cannot yet account for the magnitude of the effect. The experimental results indicate that the high EQEs over 100% under bias illumination are related to a barrier for electron transport over the interface between the two blends.