Introducing a Quasirandom Pattern in OPVs for Balancing the Transverse Magnetic and Electric Modes of Incident Light

To maximize solar energy utilization, this paper reports organic photovoltaics (OPVs) in which a 2D quasirandom pattern is fabricated and introduced in electron-transporting ZnO and photoactive layers in an easy and simple manner. The 2D quasirandom pattern is acquired from a digital versatile disc (DVD) where the data are recorded, and the nanostructure is introduced to OPVs under normal temperature and pressure conditions via soft-nanoimprinting lithography. The fabricated OPVs exhibit improved energy absorption/conversion characteristics in both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) modes, with the mismatch between the two modes being within 1%. This value is approximately 3.5 times less than in conventional devices having a 1D grating pattern. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OPVs with a 2D quasirandom pattern introduced in ZnO and photoactive layers is improved to 9.2% through balanced TM/TE energy absorption, which corresponds to a 21% improvement compared to OPVs without the pattern.