Organic electronics offer a clear path to large scale, low cost photovoltaics. But efficiency issues such as charge transport, extraction, and device degradation keep these materials from being market-viable. Electric Force Microscopy (EFM) allows us to probe electronic properties of various materials and meso-scale morphologies. By observing the photo-induced response and degradation, we are able to inform synthetic and fabrication processes.

 

We have developed a general approach to illuminate samples in our custom-built vacuum electric force microscope. We will describe experiments using variable-wavelength light to characterize lead sulfide, PFB/F8BT polymer blend, and other thin film photovoltaic devices.