A preliminary development in hybrid a-silicon/polymer solar cells

Amorphous undoped intrinsic silicon, B-doped silicon and P-doped silicon hybrid bilayer structures with poly(3-hexylthiophene) have been fabricated and their photovoltaic responses have been investigated. Open-circuit voltages and fill factors of the devices are moderate, but strongly dependent on the doping type of a-Si:H films. The highest available open-circuit voltage from the hybrid solar cells within this investigation is 1.23 V in a standard test condition. Both inorganic and organic semiconducting layers contribute to the photocurrent generation. The short-circuit currents appear to be limited by unbalanced charged carriers collected from different sides of the semiconductors, which indicates a way forward in device optimization.