We report the synthesis and bulk heterojunction photovoltaic performance of the first dithienogermole (DTG)-containing conjugated polymer. Stille polycondensation of a distannyl-DTG derivative with 1,3-dibromo-N-octyl-thienopyrrolodione (TPD) results in an alternating copolymer which displays light absorption extending to 735 nm, and a higher HOMO level than the analogous copolymer containing the commonly utilized dithienosilole (DTS) heterocycle. When polyDTG-TPD:PC(70)BM blends are utilized in inverted bulk heterojunction solar cells, the cells display average power conversion efficiencies of 7.3%, compared to 6.6% for the DTS-containing cells prepared in parallel under identical conditions. The performance enhancement is a result of a higher short-circuit current and fill factor in the DTG-containing cells, which comes at the cost of a slightly lower open circuit voltage than for the DTS-based cells.

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Interface recombination induced by the defect states in zinc‐oxide‐nanoparticle‐based electron extraction layer is reported as a significant loss‐mechanism of photocurrent collection. By choosing appropriate UV–ozone treatment conditions on the zinc oxide layer, inverted polymer solar cells show reduced interface recombination and thus improved power conversion efficiencies of up to 8.1%.

The evolution of electronic energy levels of controlled air and oxygen exposed molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) films has been investigated with ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy, inverse photoemission spectroscopy, and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. We found that while most of the electronic levels of as deposited MoO3 films remained largely intact, the reduction in the work function (WF) was substantial. The gradual surface WF change from 6.8 to 5.3 eV was observed for air exposed film, while oxygen exposed film the surface WF saturated at ∼5.7 eV. Two distinct stages of exposure are observed, the first dominated by oxygen adsorption for <1013 Langmuir (L) exposure and at the final step moisture absorption >1013 L.

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