Controlling surface enrichment in polymeric hole extraction layers to achieve high-efficiency organic photovoltaic cells.

Hole extraction in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) can be modulated by a surface-enriched layer formed on top of the conducting polymer-based hole extraction layer (HEL). This tunes the surface work function of the HEL to better align with the ionization potential of the polymeric photoactive layer. Results show noticeable improvement in device power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in OPVs. We achieved a 6.1 % PCE from the OPV by optimizing the surface-enriched layer.