Time-independent, high electron mobility in thin PC61BM films: Relevance to organic photovoltaics

Ultrafast optical probing of electric field by means of electroabsorption combined with conventional photocurrent measurements was employed to investigate the drift and mobility dynamics of photo-generated charge carriers in the pristine PC61BM film and in the blend with a merocyanine dye. Electrons passed a 40 nm thick PC61BM film within a few picoseconds with time-independent and weakly dispersive mobility. The electron mobility is 1 cm2/(V s) at 1 MV/cm and an estimate of the zero-field mobility yields 5 ⋅ 10−2 cm2/(V s). The initial electron mobility in the blend is of the order of 10−2 cm2/(V s) and decreases rapidly. We conclude that electron motion in PC61BM based organic bulk hetero-junction solar cells is limited by barriers between PC61BM domains rather than by intrinsic PC61BM properties.