Organic up-conversion devices
Koen Vandewal a
a Hasselt University, Institute for Materials Research (imo-imomec), Martelarenlaan 42, B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium.
Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2026 Conference (MATSUSSpring26)
B2 Strategies to push the efficiency and stability limits of organic photovoltaics at a multiscale
Barcelona, Spain, 2026 March 23rd - 27th
Organizers: Ignasi Burgués and Maria Saladina
Invited Speaker, Koen Vandewal, presentation 109
Publication date: 15th December 2025

The conversion of low energy into higher energy photons provides an attractive opportunity to improve solar energy technologies. Several types of thin film materials which can transform two or more low energy excited states into a higher energy one, have been previously developed. Due to the non-linear nature of such optical processes, up-conversion is most efficient at high light intensities, typically well above sunlight intensities (100 mW/cm2). Here, we propose an innovative stacked diode approach relying on novel, low-cost organic- semiconductor materials. The thin-film stack comprises a series of organic NIR photovoltaic stacks, providing sufficient photovoltage to drive an organic light-emitting layer deposited on top. We combine state-of-the-art, vacuum-processable absorbing and emitting systems with careful, simulation-assisted stack engineering. Converting photons from NIR (≤835 nm) to green (530 nm), the stack achieves an external upconversion efficiency (EUE) of 1.9%. Importantly, the EUE stays constant over more than 3 orders of magnitude in intensity, down to less than 1 mW/cm². This presentation will focus on efficiency limiting processes within the layer stack, as well as the potential of this approach for photovoltaic and photocatalytic conversion.

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