Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 227, 259–268 (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2018-00081-7

Regular Article

Magnetic fields: a tool for the study of organic solar cells

¹ Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena 30202, Spain
² Departamento de Electrónica, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena 30202, Spain
³ Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, Granada 18071, Spain

^a e-mail: santiago.oviedo@upct.es

Received: 25 September 2017
Received in final form: 28 November 2017
Published online: 28 September 2018

Abstract

Charge transfer in polymer devices represents a crucial, though highly inaccessible stage of photocurrent generation. In this article we propose studying the properties and behaviour of organic solar cells through the modification of photocurrent generation when an external magnetic field is applied. By allowing the parameters of our theoretical model not to be constrained to any specific material, we are able to show that not only a modest external magnetic field leads to a significant increase in photocurrent intensity, but also how such magnetic field can be used to study in detail the energy levels and transition rates within the polymer compound. Systematic exploration of key properties in organic composites thus can lead to highly optimised devices in which a magnetic field produces an enhancement in the efficiency of polymer solar cells.