Device annealing effect in organic solar cells with blends of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) and soluble fullerene

Here we report enhanced efficiency bulk heterojunction organic solar cells using blend films of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)-propyl-1-phenyl-(6,6)${\mathrm{C}}_{61}$ (PCBM) that are subjected to a thermal annealing process. Blend films ($\mathrm{P}3\mathrm{HT}:\mathrm{PCBM}=1:1$ by weight) were prepared using chlorobenzene and 1,2-dichlorobenzene in order to investigate the role of the solvent. Irrespective of the chosen solvent, the optimal device annealing temperature was found to be 140 °C. The highest power conversion efficiency, 3% under air mass 1.5 simulated solar illumination $(100\mathrm{mW}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^2)$ , was achieved by device annealing at 140 °C for 15 min using blend films prepared from chlorobenzene (2.3% for 1,2-dichlorobenzene).