In situ reflectance imaging of organic thin film formation from solution deposition

In this work we present reflectance imaging as a suitable method for in situ monitoring of the drying process of film formation for organic photovoltaics (OPV) over large areas, as well as for lab-scale spin-coating. The drying wet film is illuminated with a narrow bandwidth LED with the specularly reflected light recorded by a video camera as the film dries and forms the active layer of the OPV cell. The interference fringes generated by the thinning wet film can be used to measure the rate of solvent evaporation and the drying time. Subsequent mapping elucidates variations in drying conditions over the substrate, which lead to variations in morphology formation. The technique is suitable for tracking thickness variations of the dry film, with a sensitivity of ≈10 nm, by comparing the intensity of the reflected light from the dry film to simulated interference conditions calculated for each thickness. The drying process is furthermore accurately simulated by an optical model considering the changes in refractive index as the amount of solvent decreases with respect to the solid content. This non-invasive in situ method represents an important monitoring tool for future large scale OPV manufacturing where high performing morphologies with uniform thickness have to be formed over very large areas.

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► We introduce reflectance imaging as process control for organic thin film formation.
► Variations in evaporation rate and drying time over the substrate are visualized.
► The technique is suitable both for spin coating and blade coating.
► An optical model simulates the full drying process accurately.
► Thin film thickness variations down to 10 nm can be measured.