An organic photovoltaic cell was fabricated, with the configuration ITO/zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc)/N,N'-diheptyl-3,4,9,10-perylenebiscarboximide (PTCDI-C7) (PTCDI)/Ga:In. PTCDI is a liquid crystal and acts as an electron acceptor organic material while ZnPc corresponds to a donor. The cell performance under illumination was examined with different organic layer thickness. A cell incorporating 25 nm thick organic layers showed a short circuit photocurrent (I-SC) of 1.6 mA/cm(2), an open circuit photovoltage (V-OC) of 0.6 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.4 with white Xe light illumination (wavelength greater than or equal to400 nm) with an intensity of 100 mW/cm(2). (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.