Laser Patterning of smart Nanomaterials for Reel-to-Reel production of Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) Devices

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are attracting increasing commercial interest due to their low weight/size and flexibility, which allows them to be used on the exterior windows of cars, buildings, backpacks & clothing. The direct write and non-contact nature of laser patterning is highly desirable for the P1, P2 & P3 serial interconnection and isolation structures, as it is compatible with integration in sheet-to-sheet and reel-to-reel production lines. However, detrimental effects such as layer edge delamination or laser debris re-deposition can effect OPV performance and represent real technological problems hindering the adoption of laser schemes to production lines. Since, OPVs contain highly sensitive, thin (<0.2 mu m) layers of novel organic & inorganic materials, the reduced thermal effects of sub-nanosecond and other ultrafast lasers along with intelligent beam delivery schemes are key to produce selective removal of individual thin film layers. OPV device performance was analyzed to identify the P1 laser scribing parameters and conditions required to produce working organic solar cells.