Understanding the nature of charge transport and its limitations on device performance has guided the rational design of organic semiconductors for over a decade. This understanding has led to the development of high performance small molecule and polymeric semiconductors for applications in low-cost complementary logic circuits, displays, lighting, and solar cells. Unfortunately, the large catalog of available materials and processing variables make it difficult to outline general design rules. Specifically, in polycrystalline and semicrystalline organic semiconductors, little is understood about the structural order within a grain and between grains, and even less is known about how this structure affects the material's performance. In this thesis, characterization methods are introduced to address these issues. To understand the structural source of electronic defects, a multi-step Fourier transform X-ray line shape analysis with thorough error analysis is adapted to determine crystallite size and intra-grain cumulative disorder. For the first time, the intra-crystalline disorder in transport-relevant directions is quantitatively determined for a variety of high performing organic semiconductors. These van der Waals bonded crystallites exhibit a wide range of disorder (from
Defects play a key role in the physical properties of semiconductors and devices, and their identification is essential in assessing the reliability of electronic devices. Defects in Organic Semiconductors and Devices introduces the fundamental aspects of defects in organic semiconductors and devices in relation to the structure of materials and architecture of electronic components. It covers the topics of defect formation and evolution, defect measurement techniques and their adaption to organic devices, the effects of defects on the physical properties of materials and their effects on the performance and lifetime of organic devices. Identifying defects and determining their characteristics in the structure of organic devices such as OLEDs, OFETs and OPVs make it possible to better understand degradation processes and develop solutions to improve the reliability of such devices. This book is intended for researchers and students in university programs or engineering schools who are specializing in electronics, energy and materials.
Defects play a key role in the physical properties of semiconductors and devices, and their identification is essential in assessing the reliability of electronic devices. Defects in Organic Semiconductors and Devices introduces the fundamental aspects of defects in organic semiconductors and devices in relation to the structure of materials and architecture of electronic components. It covers the topics of defect formation and evolution, defect measurement techniques and their adaption to organic devices, the effects of defects on the physical properties of materials and their effects on the performance and lifetime of organic devices. Identifying defects and determining their characteristics in the structure of organic devices such as OLEDs, OFETs and OPVs make it possible to better understand degradation processes and develop solutions to improve the reliability of such devices. This book is intended for researchers and students in university programs or engineering schools who are specializing in electronics, energy and materials.
A review of recent advancements in colloidal nanocrystals and quantum-confined nanostructures, Nanocrystal Quantum Dots is the second edition of Semiconductor and Metal Nanocrystals: Synthesis and Electronic and Optical Properties, originally published in 2003. This new title reflects the book’s altered focus on semiconductor nanocrystals. Gathering contributions from leading researchers, this book contains new chapters on carrier multiplication (generation of multiexcitons by single photons), doping of semiconductor nanocrystals, and applications of nanocrystals in biology. Other updates include: New insights regarding the underlying mechanisms supporting colloidal nanocrystal growth A revised general overview of multiexciton phenomena, including spectral and dynamical signatures of multiexcitons in transient absorption and photoluminescence Analysis of nanocrystal-specific features of multiexciton recombination A review of the status of new field of carrier multiplication Expanded coverage of theory, covering the regime of high-charge densities New results on quantum dots of lead chalcogenides, with a focus studies of carrier multiplication and the latest results regarding Schottky junction solar cells Presents useful examples to illustrate applications of nanocrystals in biological labeling, imaging, and diagnostics The book also includes a review of recent progress made in biological applications of colloidal nanocrystals, as well as a comparative analysis of the advantages and limitations of techniques for preparing biocompatible quantum dots. The authors summarize the latest developments in the synthesis and understanding of magnetically doped semiconductor nanocrystals, and they present a detailed discussion of issues related to the synthesis, magneto-optics, and photoluminescence of doped colloidal nanocrystals as well. A valuable addition to the pantheon of literature in the field of nanoscience, this book presents pioneering research from experts whose work has led to the numerous advances of the past several years.
The field of organic electronics has seen a steady growth over the last 15 years. At the same time, our scientific understanding of how to achieve optimum device performance has grown, and this book gives an overview of our present-day knowledge of the physics behind organic semiconductor devices. Based on the very successful first edition, the editors have invited top scientists from the US, Japan, and Europe to include the developments from recent years, covering such fundamental issues as: - growth and characterization of thin films of organic semiconductors, - charge transport and photophysical properties of the materials as well as their electronic structure at interfaces, and - analysis and modeling of devices like organic light-emitting diodes or organic lasers. The result is an overview of the field for both readers with basic knowledge and for an application-oriented audience. It thus bridges the gap between textbook knowledge largely based on crystalline molecular solids and those books focusing more on device applications.
Organic semiconductors (OSs) have garnered a great attention in the recent years due to their ease of processibility, optical and electrical property-tunability, and to their cost-effectiveness. They form the class of materials most suitable for flexible electronics and bioelectronics, especially in association with solutionprocessable inorganic/hybrid materials. However, the charge mobility in these materials is strongly affected by their structural and energetic disorder introduced by the defects that 'trap' the charge carriers. Depending upon the physical location of the traps and their distribution in energy, they could significantly affect the charge transport in a device. The present work strives to probe the interface and bulk defect states in polymer-based diodes. In lieu of that, a part of the study involved characterizing the device with and without encapsulation, using techniques to record steady-state current-voltage (IV)behaviour, transients of charge extraction by linearly increasing voltage (CELIV) and dark-injection transient currents (DiTC), as well as photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) off the devices. The same characteristics have been carried out to observe the effect of ultra-violet (UV) lightsoak on the devices. All the tests were performed on three different polymers, namely P3HT, MDMO:PPV and PCDTBT. The comparison of the encapsulated versus unencapsulated devices gives an insight into characteristic differences in the measurables upon exposure to air and moisture. The light-soak tests indicate the modification of the cathode work function after a UV-assisted oxygen desorption off the polymer/cathode interface. A simultaneous effort went into an in-situ investigation of charge transport dynamics in organic semiconductors over wide time range at a microscopic scale.
Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) is a promising low-cost and environmental-friendly technology currently achieving 12-14% power conversion efficiency. Despite the extensive focus of the research community over the last years, critical mechanisms defining the performance of OPVs are still topics of debate. While energetic disorder is known to be characteristic of organic semiconductors in general, its potential role in OPV has received surprisingly little attention. In this thesis we investigate some aspects of the relation between energetic disorder and several optoelectronic properties of OPV. Charge carrier mobility is a key parameter in characterizing the performance of organic semiconductors. Analyzing the temperature dependence of the mobility is also an oftenused method to obtain (estimates for) the energetic disorder in the HOMO and LUMO levels of an organic semiconductor material. Different formalisms to extract and analyze mobilities from space charge limited conductivity (SCLC) experiments are reviewed. Surprisingly, the Murgatroyd-Gill analytical model in combination with the Gaussian disorder model in the Boltzmann limit yields similar mobilities and energetic disorders as a more elaborate drift-diffusion model with parametrized mobility functionals. Common analysis and measurement errors are discussed. All the models are incorporated in an automated analysis freeware tool. The open circuit voltage (Voc) has attracted considerable interest as the large difference between Voc and the bandgap is the main loss mechanism in bulk heterojunction OPVs. Surprisingly, in ternary devices composed of two donors and one acceptor, the Voc is not pinned to the shallowest HOMO but demonstrates a continuous tunability between the binary extremities. We show that this phenomenon can be explained with an equilibrium model where Voc is defined as the splitting of the quasi-Fermi levels of the photo-created holes and electrons in a common density of states accounting for the stoichiometry, i.e. the ratio of the donor materials and the broadening by Gaussian disorder. Evaluating the PCE, it is found that ternary devices do not offer advantages over binary unless the fill factor (FF) is increased at intermediate compositions, as a result of improved transport/recombination upon material blending. Stressing the importance of material intermixing to improve the performance, we found that the presence of an acceptor may drastically alter the mobility and energetic disorder of the donor and vice versa. The effect of different acceptors was studied in a ternary onedonor- two-acceptors system, where the unpredictable variability with composition of the energetic disorder in the HOMO and the LUMO explained the almost linear tunability of Voc. Designing binary OPVs based on the design rule that the energetic disorder can be reduced upon material blending, as we observed, can yield a relative PCE improvement of at least 20%. CT states currently play a key role in evaluating the performance of OPVs and CTelectroluminescence (CT-EL) is assumed to stem from the recombination of thermalized electron-hole pairs. The varying width of the CT-EL peak for different material combinations is intuitively expected to reflect the energetic disorder of the effective HOMO and LUMO. We employ kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) CT-EL simulations, using independently measured disorder parameters as input, to calculate the ground-to-ground state (0-0) transition spectrum. Including the vibronic broadening according to the Franck Condon principle, we reproduce the width and current dependence of the measured CT-EL peak for a large number of donor-acceptor combinations. The fitted dominant phonon modes compare well with the values measured using the spectral line narrowing technique. Importantly, the calculations show that CT-EL originates from a narrow, non-thermalized subset of all available CT states, which can be understood by considering the kinetic microscopic process with which electron-hole pairs meet and recombine. Despite electron-hole pairs being strongly bound in organic materials, the charge separation process following photo-excitation is found to be extremely efficient and independent of the excitation energy. However, at low photon energies where the charges are excited deep in the tail of the DOS, it is intuitively expected for the extraction yield to be quenched. Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE) experiments for different material systems show both inefficient and efficient charge dissociation for excitation close to the CT energy. This finding is explained by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations accounting for a varying degree of e-h delocalization, where strongly bound localized CT pairs (< 2nm distance) are doomed to recombine at low excitation energies while extended delocalization over 3-5nm yields an increased and energy-independent IQE. Using a single material parameter set, the experimental CT electroluminescence and absorption spectra are reproduced by the same kMC model by accounting for the vibronic progression of the calculated 0-0 transition. In contrast to CT-EL, CT-absorption probes the complete CT manifold. Charge transport in organic solar cells is currently modelled as either an equilibrium or a non-equilibrium process. The former is described by drift-diffusion (DD) equations, which can be calculated quickly but assume local thermal equilibrium of the charge carriers with the lattice. The latter is described by kMC models, that are time-consuming but treat the charge carriers individually and can probe all relevant time and energy scales. A hybrid model that makes use of the multiple trap and release (MTR) concept in combination with the DD equations is shown to describe both steady-state space charge limited conductivity experiments and non-equilibrium time-resolved transport experiments using a single parameter set. For the investigated simulations, the DD-MTR model is in good agreement with kMC and ~10 times faster. Steady-state mobilities from DD equations have been argued to be exclusively relevant for operating OPVs while charge carrier thermalization and non-equilibrium time-dependent mobilities (although acknowledged) can be disregarded. This conclusion, based on transient photocurrent experiments with ?s time resolution, is not complete. We show that non-equilibrium kMC simulations can describe the extraction of charge carriers from subps to 100 ?s timescales with a single parameter set. The majority of the fast charge carriers, mostly non-thermalized electrons, are extracted at time scales below the resolution of the experiment. In other words, the experiment resolves only the slower fraction of the charges, predominantly holes.
Research into polymer nanofibers has increased significantly over the last decade, prompting the need for a comprehensive monograph examining the subject as knowledge of their properties and potential applications has increased. Postgraduate students and researchers new to the field will benefit from the "from materials to applications" approach to the book, which examines the physio-chemical properties in detail, demonstrating how they can be exploited for a diverse range of applications, including the production of light and wound dressings. Techniques for the fabrication, notably electrospinning, are discussed at length. This book provides a unique and accessible source of information, summarising the last decade of the field and presenting an entry point for those entering the field and an inspiration to established workers. The author is currently the national coordinator for several research projects examining the applications of polymer nanofibers, alongside active international collaborations.
Charge Transport in Organic Semiconductors, by Heinz Bässler and Anna Köhler. Frontiers of Organic Conductors and Superconductors, by Gunzi Saito and Yukihiro Yoshida. Fullerenes, Carbon Nanotubes, and Graphene for Molecular Electronics, by Julio R. Pinzón, Adrián Villalta-Cerdas and Luis Echegoyen. Current Challenges in Organic Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion, by Cody W. Schlenker and Mark E. Thompson.- Molecular Monolayers as Semiconducting Channels in Field Effect Transistors, by Cherie R. Kagan. Issues and Challenges in Vapor-Deposited Top Metal Contacts for Molecule-Based Electronic Devices, by Masato M. Maitani and David L. Allara. Spin Polarized Electron Tunneling and Magnetoresistance in Molecular Junctions, by Greg Szulczewski.
