We have investigated the current-voltage characteristics of the
multi-layered photovoltaic devices consisting of ITO/oxide /p-type
(donor)/fullerene/ bathocuproine (BCP)/ Al structures. We chose various
p-type (donors) small molecules and polymers in order to tune the values of
ionization potential (IP) of donor molecules. The open-circuit voltage (Voc)
increases with the increment of IP of donor materials. However,
VOC was limited at ~0.6-0.7V for the devices without oxide
layer. On the other hand, the VOC increases up to 0.9V for the
devices with NiO and to ~ 1.1V for the devices with MoOX as a
hole extraction buffer layer, respectively. We also estimated the
work-function differences between Al and the oxide as 0.7, 0.9-1.0, and
1.2-1.3 eV for the device without oxide, with NiO, and with MoOX,
respectively. We therefore concluded the value of VOC is limited
by the lower part of VOC and energy difference between the LUMO
of fullerene and the HOMO of donor ΔE.