In this work we focus on P3HT:PC61BM bulk
heterojunction (BHJ) devices with MoO3 at the hole extraction
side of the BHJ, which relies on the formation of a strong dipole
at the BHJ/MoO3 interface, as a reference system that has
been extensively studied. We have observed, depending on when the
annealing is performed during device fabrication, that the device
performance either increased or decreased due to formation of a sharp
or relatively diffuse interface, respectively, due to diffusion of
MoO
x
into the BHJ. The measured strength
of the dipole at this interface following thermal annealing correlated
well with the width of the interface and device performance, with
the sharper interface resulting in a stronger dipole and in improved
device performance. This is expected to be a general phenomenon for
evaporated coatings onto polymeric BHJ, regardless of the polymers
involved.