Electrical edge effect induced photocurrent overestimation in low-light organic photovoltaics

Summary

In many literatures, the short-circuit current (J_SC) of indoor organic photovoltaics is overestimated, leading to severely wrong device performance evaluation and analysis. In this work, based on the equivalent circuit model, we demonstrate that electrical edge effect is sensitive to both transverse surface resistance and light intensity. At low light intensity, the electrical edge effect could lead to J_SC being significantly overestimated, i.e., by 100% and even more. We show that for a PM6:Y6 device capped with a MoO_X layer, when measured under 0.01 sun, the usually overlooked interface doping mechanism would lead to J_SC and PCE overestimation by 51% and 15%, respectively. Besides, we show that the magnitude of J_SC overestimation drastically increases with high photoactive-layer surface roughness. This work emphasized the significant electrical edge effect on J_SC evaluations for low-light solar cells and is conducive to understanding the intrinsic mechanism of edge effect, promoting a healthier development of organic photovoltaics.