Relatrice:  Maria Sygletou - Department of Physics, University of Genoa, GE, Italy and Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (IESL-FORTH), and Physics Department, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.

Abstract: 

Over the past decade, the need for low-cost and solution-processed materials, ideal for photovoltaic applications, has experienced particular attention in global scientific research. Organic semiconducting materials exhibit large potential for photovoltaic energy conversion. The major attention for organic photovoltaics (OPVs) originates from the fact that organic compounds are of much lower cost than silicon or any of the PV materials available to date, as well as that can be fabricated using low temperature solution processed techniques. In order to become more competitive, organic photovoltaic technologies must overcome two main problems: low efficiency and short lifetime. Further research effort towards increasing power conversion efficiency (PCE) as well as improving device lifetime is required. In this work we developed low cost laser techniques for: (i) the fabrication of novel materials and (ii) functionalization of non-conductive materials with suitable properties in order to enhance both efficiency and stability in organic photovoltaic systems.