Michal Usowicz with Volodimyr Duzhko

Self-Assembled Solar Cells of Nanostructured Architectures

(started in spring 2009 for completion in fall 2009)

Currently the most efficient solar cells are made of silicon and are not a viable technology due to high device fabrication costs. It is hoped that organic semiconductors and hybrid systems with nanostructured inorganic materials can be used to construct less expensive, yet efficient, solar cells. The purpose of this project is to develop a new fabrication approach that would enable self-assembly of organic electron-donor and electron-acceptor molecules into blends of a quasi one-dimensional architecture. We will study exciton dissociation at the donor-acceptor interfaces and transport of electrons and holes along the quasi one-dimensional donor and acceptor channels in photovoltaic device architectures as well as in a number of simpler model geometries. Better understanding these fundamental photo-physical processes would allow for further optimization of the device performance.