Mechanism of carrier generation in poly(phenylene vinylene): Transient photoconductivity and photoluminescence at high electric fields

Organic Optoelectronic Materials: Mechanisms and Applications

Organic (opto)electronic materials have received considerable attention due to their applications in thin-film-transistors, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, sensors, photorefractive devices, and many others. The technological promises include low cost of these materials and the possibility of their room-temperature deposition from solution on large-area and/or flexible substrates. The article reviews the current understanding of the physical mechanisms that determine the (opto)electronic properties of high-performance organic materials. The focus of the review is on photoinduced processes and on electronic properties important for optoelectronic applications relying on charge carrier photogeneration. Additionally, it highlights the capabilities of various experimental techniques for characterization of these materials, summarizes top-of-the-line device performance, and outlines recent trends in the further development of the field. The properties of materials based both on small molecules and on conjugated polymers are considered, and their applications in organic solar cells, photodetectors, and photorefractive devices are discussed.

Concentration effects on intrachain polaron recombination in conjugated polymers

The influence of different charge carrier concentrations on the recombination dynamics between oppositely charged polarons is numerically investigated using a modified version of the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model that includes an external electric field and electron–electron interactions.

Insights into π-conjugated small molecule neat films and blends as determined through photoconductivity

Spectrally dependent steady-state photoconductivity is a convenient method to gain insight into the charge generation and transport processes within a given material. In this work, we report on the photoconductive response of solution-processed neat films and blends of the fullerene, PC(71)BM, and the donor-acceptor small-molecule, p-DTS(PTTh(2))(2), as function of the processing additive, diiodooctance (DIO). The results, when considered in the context of their structural, optical, and electronic properties give insight into the dominant carrier generation and charge transport mechanisms in each of these molecular systems.

Exciton dissociation and charge carrier recombination processes in organic semiconductors

Exciton dissociation and charge recombination processes in organic semiconductors, with thermal effects taken into account, are described in this paper. Here, we analyzed the mechanisms of polaron-excitons dissociation into free charge carriers and the consequent recombination of those carriers under thermal effects on two parallel π-conjugated polymers chains electronically coupled. Our results suggest that exciton dissociation in a single molecule give rise to localized, polaron-like charge carrier. Besides, we concluded that in the case of interchain processes, the bimolecular polaron recombination does not lead to an usual exciton state. Rather, this type of recombination leads to an oscillating dipole between the two chains. The recombination time obtained here for these processes are in agreement with the experimental results. Finally, our results show that temperature effects are essential to the relaxation process leading to polaron formation in a single chain, as in the absence of temperature, this process was not observed. In the case of two chains, we conclude that temperature effects also help the bimolecular recombination process, as observed experimentally.

Field effect on polaron dynamics and charge transport in conducting polymers

We investigate the formation and motion dynamics of polarons in one-dimensional conjugated polymers within the extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model combined with an adiabatic dynamics method. In the presence of external electric fields, the initial location of the polaron is stressed and concerned with the charge transport property of organic semiconductors. Three regimes for the electric fields are categorized in terms of the forming place of the polaron. In the low field strength regime, the polaron is formed around the center of the chain and thus the charge undergoes a long-time travel before being extracted into the electrode because of the strong electron and phonon (e-p) interaction. In the intermediate strength regime, the polaron is formed near the chain end. Due to the chain-end scattering, the electron mobility increases in linear relation with the field strength. In the high strength regime, the polaron is formed at the chain end. This results in a nonlinear enhancement in the electronic mobility, in agreement with the experimental observations on the field dependent transient photocurrent in poly(phenylene vinylene). The electron-electron correlation, as well as the field mode effect on polaron dynamics, is also discussed.

Excited State and Charge Photogeneration Dynamics in Conjugated Polymers

Conjugated polymers are becoming interesting materials for a range of optoelectronic applications. However, their often complex electronic and structural properties prevent establishment of straightforward property-function relationships. In this paper, we summarize recent results on the photophysics and excited state dynamics of conjugated polymers, in order to paint a picture of exciton formation, quenching, and generation of charge carriers.

Dynamics of photogenerated polarons in conjugated polymers

Within a tight-binding electron-phonon interacting model, we investigate the dynamics of photoexcitations to address the generation mechanism of charged polarons in conjugated polymers by using a nonadiabatic evolution method. Besides the neutral polaron exciton which is well known, we identify a novel product of lattice dynamic relaxation from the photoexcited states in a few hundreds of femtoseconds, which is a mixed state composed of both charged polarons and neutral excitons. Our results show that the charged polarons are generated directly with a yield of about 25%, which is independent of the excitation energies, in good agreement with results from experiments. Effects of the conjugation length are also discussed.

Efficiency of exciton and charge carrier photogeneration in a semiconducting polymer

We determine the efficiencies for the formation of excitons and charge carriers following ultrafast photoexcitation of a semiconducting polymer (MEH-PPV). The simultaneous, quantitative determination of exciton and charge photoyields is achieved through subpicosecond studies of both the real and the imaginary components of the complex conductivity over a wide frequency range. Predominantly excitons, with near-unity quantum efficiency, are generated on excitation, while only a very small fraction (<10(-2)) of free charges are initially excited, consistent with rapid ( approximately 100 fs) hot exciton dissociation. These initial charges are very short lived, decaying on subpicosecond time scales.

Singlet exciton binding energy in poly(phenylene vinylene)

The exciton binding energy (E(b)) and the band gap energy (E(g)) of poly(phenylene vinylene) are determined by high-resolution measurements of the photoconductivity excitation profile as a function of light polarization, applied electric field, and temperature. At high applied electric fields, a peak in the photoconductivity is observed when the sample is pumped at a photon energy just below the onset of the band-to-band pi-pi* absorption. This peak is interpreted as resulting from field ionization of a weakly bound exciton with E(b) approximately 60 meV. The binding energy is obtained from the energy of the exciton peak relative to the band edge and independently from analysis of the dependence of the exciton dissociation on field and temperature.