Photovoltaic effect by vapor-printed polyselenophene

Polyselenophene (PSe) donor layers are successfully integrated into organic photovoltaic devices (OPV) for the first time. Thin, patterned films of this insoluble semiconductor were fabricated using a vacuum-based vapor-printing technique, oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) combined with in-situ shadow masking. The vapor-printed PSe exhibits a reduced optical bandgap of 1.76 eV and enhanced photo-responsivity in the red compared to its sulfur containing analog, polythiophene. These relative advantages are most likely explained by selenium's enhanced electron-donating character compared to sulfur. The HOMO level of PSe was determined to be at -4.85 eV. The maximum power conversion efficiency achieved was 0.4% using a bilayer heterojunction device architecture with C-60 as the donor. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.