Phase separation of co-evaporated ZnPc:C60 blend film for highly efficient organic photovoltaics

We demonstrate phase separation of co-evaporated zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and fullerene (C60) for efficient organic photovoltaic cells. With introducing a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) film and a crystalline copper iodide film on indium tin oxide, 20-nm-thick ZnPc film adopts a lying-down crystalline geometry with grain sizes of about 50 nm. This surface distributed with strong interaction areas and weak interaction areas enables the selective growth of ZnPc and C60 molecules during following co-evaporation, which not only results in a phase separation but also improve the crystalline growth of C60. This blend film greatly enhances the efficiencies in photocurrent generation and carrier transport, resulting in a high power conversion efficiency of 4.56% under 1 sun.