Investigation of recombination loss in organic solar cells by simulating intensity-dependent current–voltage measurements

After numerically solving the Poisson and continuity equations that characterize the electrical behavior of semiconductor devices, we investigated the loss mechanism in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs) by simulating intensity-dependent current–voltage curves. Comparison of simulation results with real experimental measurements reveals that monomolecular recombination is the primary loss mechanism in OSCs. This conclusion is consistent with direct observations that bimolecular recombination is significantly suppressed in bulk heterojunction OSCs. The determination of recombination mechanism is important to model and predict the operation of OSCs precisely and further optimize their performance.

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► Loss mechanism is investigated by simulating intensity-dependent J–V curves.
► Fitting simulation to J–V measurements to determine loss mechanism.
► It is observed that monomolecular recombination dominates in P3HT/PCBM solar cells.