Hybrid nanocomposite thin films deposited by emulsion-based resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation for photovoltaic applications

Emulsion-based, resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) was used to deposit CdSe nanoparticle films and hybrid nanocomposite films comprising colloidal CdSe nanoparticles embedded in a low band gap polymer, poly[2,6-(4,4-bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophene)-alt-4,7-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT). We show that, in contrast to traditional MAPLE deposition, the CdSe nanoparticle film deposited by emulsion based RIR-MAPLE is contiguous and uniform, and it maintains the optical properties of the nanoparticle solution. Moreover, we show that the RIR-MAPLE deposited PCPDTBT/CdSe hybrid nanocomposite film exhibits a relatively random and uniform distribution of CdSe nanoparticles without the significant phase segregation that is observed in hybrid nanocomposite films deposited by spin-casting. Finally, hybrid organic solar cells based on nanocomposite films deposited by the RIR-MAPLE technique were fabricated and characterized, showing 0.4% power conversion efficiency. This is the first demonstration of a polymer-nanoparticle hybrid organic solar cell fabricated by a MAPLE-related technique.