Energy-level alignment at organic heterointerfaces

Review on the DFT computation of bulk heterojunction and dye-sensitized organic solar cell properties

CONTEXT

Organic solar cells (OSCs) represent a promising renewable energy technology due to their flexibility, low production cost, and environmental sustainability. To advance OSC efficiency and stability, density functional theory (DFT) has emerged as a powerful computational tool, enabling the prediction and optimization of critical properties at the molecular and device levels. This review highlights the key properties of bulk heterojunction solar (BHJ) solar cells and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) that can be accurately computed using DFT, including electronic structure properties (HOMO-LUMO energy levels, bandgap energies, and exciton binding energies, which influence charge separation and transport); optical properties (absorption spectra and light-harvesting efficiency, essential for maximizing photon capture); charge transport properties (reorganization energies, electron, and hole mobilities, and charge transfer rates that govern carrier dynamics within devices); interfacial properties (energy alignment at donor-acceptor interfaces, contributing to efficient charge separation and minimizing recombination); and chemical reactivity descriptors (ionization potential, electron affinity, chemical hardness, and electrophilicity, which facilitate material screening for OSC applications). We also show how to compute OSCs' power conversion efficiency (PCE) from DFT.

METHODS

The review also discusses the importance of selecting appropriate exchange-correlation functionals and basis sets to ensure the accuracy of DFT predictions. By providing reliable computational insights, DFT accelerates the rational design of OSC materials, guides experimental efforts, and reduces resource demands. This work underscores DFT's pivotal role in optimizing OSC performance and fostering the development of next-generation photovoltaic technologies.

Doping bilayer hole-transport polymer strategy stabilizing solution-processed green quantum-dot light-emitting diodes

Quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) are solution-processed electroluminescence devices with great potential as energy-saving, large-area, and low-cost display and lighting technologies. Ideally, the organic hole-transport layers (HTLs) in QLEDs should simultaneously deliver efficient hole injection and transport, effective electron blocking, and robust electrochemical stability. However, it is still challenging for a single HTL to fulfill all these stringent criteria. Here, we demonstrate a general design of doping-bilayer polymer-HTL architecture for stabilizing high-efficiency QLEDs. We show that the bilayer HTLs combining the electrochemical-stable polymer and the electron-blocking polymer unexpectedly increase the hole injection barrier. We mitigated the problem by p-doping of the underlying sublayer of the bilayer HTLs. Consequently, green QLEDs with an unprecedented maximum luminance of 1,340,000 cd m-2 and a record-long operational lifetime (T95 lifetime at an initial luminance of 1000 cd m-2 is 17,700 hours) were achieved. The universality of the strategy is examined in various polymer-HTL systems, providing a general route toward high-performance solution-processed QLEDs.

Electrode Doping and Dielectric Effect in Hole Injection into Organic Semiconductors through High Work-Function Oxides

High work-function metal oxides are common for enhancing hole injection into organic semiconductors. However, the current understanding of the electrostatic mechanism needs to be more consistent with materials' electronic properties. Here, we study the electrostatic profile of high work-function oxides by considering their dielectricity and energetic disorder. Using MoO₃ as an example, we first show that the significant vacuum-level change at the electrode-oxide interface originates from electrode doping rather than the conventionally assumed interface dipole. Moreover, electrode doping is enough to explain the Fermi-level shift, so MoO₃'s characteristic n-type property is not necessarily due to intrinsic donors. This conclusion also applies to the n-type oxides with reduced work functions, like WO₃, V₂O₅, and p-type NiO. Finally, the dielectricity of the oxide, either n-type or p-type, reduces the surface p-doping of the further deposited organic layer. Increasing the oxide's metallicity and energetic disorder facilitates the hole injection.

Nanoscale Periodic Trapping Sites for Interlayer Excitons Built by Deformable Molecular Crystal on 2D Crystal

The nanoscale moiré pattern formed at 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide crystal (TMDC) heterostructures provides periodic trapping sites for excitons, which is essential for realizing various exotic phases such as artificial exciton lattices, Bose-Einstein condensates, and exciton insulators. At organic molecule/TMDC heterostructures, similar periodic potentials can be formed via other degrees of freedom. Here, we utilize the structure deformability of a 2D molecular crystal as a degree of freedom to create a periodic nanoscale potential that can trap interlayer excitons (IXs). Specifically, two semiconducting molecules, PTCDI and PTCDA, which possess similar band gaps and ionization potentials but form different lattice structures on MoS₂, are investigated. The PTCDI lattice on MoS₂ is distorted geometrically, which lifts the degeneracy of the two molecules within the crystal's unit cell. The degeneracy lifting results in a spatial variation of the molecular orbital energy, with an amplitude and periodicity of ∼0.2 eV and ∼2 nm, respectively. On the other hand, no such energy variation is observed in PTCDA/MoS₂, where the PTCDA lattice is much less distorted. The periodic variation in molecular orbital energies provides effective trapping sites for IXs. For IXs formed at PTCDI/MoS₂, rapid spatial localization of the electron in the organic layer toward the interface is observed, which demonstrates the effectiveness of these interfacial IX traps.

Spectroscopic and Spectroelectrochemical Studies of Hexapentyloxytriphenylene-A Model Discotic Molecule

The electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties of the discotic mesogen 2,3,6,7,10,11-pentyloxytriphenylene (H5T) were studied with the use of cyclic voltammetry combined with UV-Vis and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy in solution. The UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy of H5T in dichloromethane showed its monomeric state in a concentration range up to 10^-3 mol dm^-3. The reversible process of the electrochemical formation of the radical cation was evidenced within the experimentally accessible potential window. The in situ UV-Vis spectroelectrochemical measurements further enabled identification of the product of the redox process and evaluation of the effect of aggregation in the concentration range of 5 × 10^-3 mol dm^-3. The results are discussed in the frame of solvent effects on the self-assembly propensity of solute molecules, in a wide range of concentrations. In particular, the crucial role of the solvent polarity is indicated, which contributes to the understanding of solution effects and pre-programming of supramolecular organic materials, in particular anisotropic disc-shaped hexa-substituted triphenylenes.

High n-type and p-type conductivities and power factors achieved in a single conjugated polymer

The charge transport properties of conjugated polymers are commonly limited by the energetic disorder. Recently, several amorphous conjugated polymers with planar backbone conformations and low energetic disorder have been investigated for applications in field-effect transistors and thermoelectrics. However, there is a lack of strategy to finely tune the interchain π-π contacts of these polymers that severely restricts the energetic disorder of interchain charge transport. Here, we demonstrate that it is feasible to achieve excellent conductivity and thermoelectric performance in polymers based on thiophene-fused benzodifurandione oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) through reducing the crystallization rate of side chains and, in this way, carefully controlling the degree of interchain π-π contacts. N-type (p-type) conductivities of more than 100 S cm^-1 (400 S cm^-1) and power factors of more than 200 μW m^-1 K^-2 (100 μW m^-1 K^-2) were achieved within a single polymer doped by different dopants. It further demonstrated the state-of-the-art power output of the first flexible single-polymer thermoelectric generator.

An Artificial Nerve Capable of UV-Perception, NIR-Vis Switchable Plasticity Modulation, and Motion State Monitoring

The first flexible organic-heterojunction neuromorphic transistor (OHNT) that senses broadband light, including near-ultraviolet (NUV), visible (vis), and near-infrared (NIR), and processes multiplexed-neurotransmission signals is demonstrated. For UV perception, electrical energy consumption down to 536 aJ per synaptic event is demonstrated, at least one order of magnitude lower than current UV-sensitive synaptic devices. For NIR- and vis-perception, switchable plasticity by alternating light sources is yielded for recognition and memory. The device emulates multiplexed neurochemical transition of different neurotransmitters such as dopamine and noradrenaline to form short-term and long-term responses. These facilitate the first realization of human-integrated motion state monitoring and processing using a synaptic hardware, which is then used for real-time heart monitoring of human movement. Motion state analysis with the 96% accuracy is then achieved by artificial neural network. This work provides important support to future biomedical electronics and neural prostheses.

Direct Observation of the Charge Transfer States from a Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cell with a Small Driving Force

For organic solar cells (OSCs), the charge generation mechanism and the recombination loss are heavily linked with charge transfer states (CTS). Measuring the energy of CTS (E_CT) by the most widely used technique, however, has become challenging for the non-fullerene-based OSCs with a small driving force, resulting in difficulty in the understanding of OSC physics. Herein, we present a study of the PM6:Y6 bulk heterojunction. It is demonstrated that electro-absorption can not only reveal the dipolar nature of Y6 but also resolve the morphology-dependent absorption signal of CTS in the sub-bandgap region. The device with the optimum blending weight ratio shows an E_CT of 1.27 eV, which is confirmed by independent measurements. Because of the charge transfer characteristics of Y6, the charge generation at PM6:Y6 interfaces occurs efficiently under a small but non-negligible driving force of 0.14 eV, and the total recombination loss is as low as 0.43 eV.

Revealing molecular conformation-induced stress at embedded interfaces of organic optoelectronic devices by sum frequency generation spectroscopy

Interface stresses are pervasive and critical in conventional optoelectronic devices and generally lead to many failures and reliability problems. However, detection of the interface stress embedded in organic optoelectronic devices is a long-standing problem, which causes the unknown relationship between interface stress and organic device stability (one key and unsettled issue for practical applications). In this study, a kind of previously unknown molecular conformation-induced stress is revealed at the organic embedded interface through sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy technique. This stress can be greater than 10 kcal/mol per nm² and is sufficient to induce molecular disorder in the organic semiconductor layer (with energy below 8 kcal/mol per nm²), finally causing instability of the organic transistor. This study not only reveals interface stress in organic devices but also correlates instability of organic devices with the interface stress for the first time, offering an effective solution for improving device stability.

Charge Transfer Excitation and Asymmetric Energy Transfer at the Interface of Pentacene-Perfluoropentacene Heterostacks

High-performance solar cells demand efficient charge-carrier excitation, separation, and extraction. These requirements hold particularly true for molecular photovoltaics, where large exciton binding energies render charge separation challenging at their commonly complex donor-acceptor interface structure. Among others, charge-transfer (CT) states are considered to be important precursors for exciton dissociation and charge separation. However, the general nature of CT excitons and their formation pathways remain unclear. Layered quasiplanar crystalline molecular heterostructures of the prototypical donor-acceptor system pentacene-perfluoropentacene studied at cryogenic temperatures are a paramount model system to gain insights into the underlying physical mechanism. In particular, a detailed experiment-theory analysis on a layered heterojunction featuring perfluoropentacene in its π-stacked polymorph and pentacene in the Siegrist phase indicates that exciton diffusion in unitary films can influence the formation efficiency of CT excitons localized at internal interfaces for these conditions. The correlation of the structural characteristics, that is, the molecular arrangement at the interfaces, with their absorption and photoluminescence excitation spectra is consistent with exciton transfer from pentacene to the CT exciton state only, whereas no transfer of excitons from the perfluoropentacene is detected. Electronic structure calculations of the model systems and investigation of coupling matrix elements between the various electronic states involved suggest hampered exciton diffusion toward the internal interface in the perfluoropentacene films. The asymmetric energy landscape around an idealized internal donor-acceptor interface thus is identified as a reason for asymmetric energy transfer. Thus, long-range effects apparently can influence charge separation in crystalline molecular heterostructures, similar to band gap bowing, which is well established for inorganic pn-junctions.

Integrated molecular diode as 10 MHz half-wave rectifier based on an organic nanostructure heterojunction

Considerable efforts have been made to realize nanoscale diodes based on single molecules or molecular ensembles for implementing the concept of molecular electronics. However, so far, functional molecular diodes have only been demonstrated in the very low alternating current frequency regime, which is partially due to their extremely low conductance and the poor degree of device integration. Here, we report about fully integrated rectifiers with microtubular soft-contacts, which are based on a molecularly thin organic heterojunction and are able to convert alternating current with a frequency of up to 10 MHz. The unidirectional current behavior of our devices originates mainly from the intrinsically different surfaces of the bottom planar and top microtubular Au electrodes while the excellent high frequency response benefits from the charge accumulation in the phthalocyanine molecular heterojunction, which not only improves the charge injection but also increases the carrier density.

The demand for miniaturization of electronics has been motivating a growing interest in high-performance molecular electronics. Li, Bandari et al. report a fully integrated molecular rectifier based on a molecular heterojunction and microtubular electrode enabling high frequency operation at more than 10 MHz.

Binding and electronic level alignment of π-conjugated systems on metals

We review the binding and energy level alignment of π-conjugated systems on metals, a field which during the last two decades has seen tremendous progress both in terms of experimental characterization as well as in the depth of theoretical understanding. Precise measurements of vertical adsorption distances and the electronic structure together with ab initio calculations have shown that most of the molecular systems have to be considered as intermediate cases between weak physisorption and strong chemisorption. In this regime, the subtle interplay of different effects such as covalent bonding, charge transfer, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions yields a complex situation with different adsorption mechanisms. In order to establish a better understanding of the binding and the electronic level alignment of π-conjugated molecules on metals, we provide an up-to-date overview of the literature, explain the fundamental concepts as well as the experimental techniques and discuss typical case studies. Thereby, we relate the geometric with the electronic structure in a consistent picture and cover the entire range from weak to strong coupling.

Distributions of Potential and Contact-Induced Charges in Conventional Organic Photovoltaics

The interfaces of dissimilar materials play central roles in photophysical events in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Depth profiles of electrostatic potential and contact-induced charges determine the energy-level lineup of the frontier orbitals at electrode/organic and organic heterointerfaces. They are critical for the elementary processes in an OPV cell, such as generation and diffusion of free carriers. A simple electrostatic model describes the energetics in organic heterojunctions supported by an electrode, and experiments via photoelectron spectroscopy and the Kelvin probe method validate the potential distribution in the stacking direction of the device. A comparative study has clarified the significance of Fermi-level pinning and resulting electrostatic fields in determining the energy-level alignment. In this review, we discuss how parameters of device constituents affect the distributions of potential and the dark charges in conventional OPVs comprising metallophthalocyanine and C60 as donor and acceptor, respectively. The results of previous studies, together with additional numerical simulations, suggest that a number of the factors influence the depth profiles of the dark charge and potential, such as the work function of bottom materials, layer thickness, structural inhomogeneity at interfaces, top electrode, and stacking sequence.

Rectification ratio and direction controlled by temperature in copper phthalocyanine ensemble molecular diodes

Organic diodes and molecular rectifiers are fundamental electronic devices that share one common feature: current rectification ability. Since both present distinct spatial dimensions and working principles, the rectification of organic diodes is usually achieved by interface engineering, while changes in molecular structures commonly control the molecular rectifiers' features. Here, we report on the first observation of temperature-driven inversion of the rectification direction (IRD) in ensemble molecular diodes (EMDs) prepared in a vertical stack configuration. The EMDs are composed of 20 nm thick molecular ensembles of copper phthalocyanine in close contact with one of its fluorinated derivatives. The material interface was found to be responsible for modifying the junction's conduction mechanisms from nearly activationless transport to Poole-Frenkel emission and phonon-assisted tunneling. In this context, the current rectification was found to be dependent on the interplay of such distinct charge transport mechanisms. The temperature has played a crucial role in each charge transport transition, which we have investigated via electrical measurements and band diagram analysis, thus providing the fundamentals on the IRD occurrence. Our findings represent an important step towards simple and rational control of rectification in carbon-based electronic nanodevices.

Heteromolecular Bilayers on a Weakly Interacting Substrate: Physisorptive Bonding and Molecular Distortions of Copper-Hexadecafluorophthalocyanine

Heteromolecular bilayers of π-conjugated organic molecules on metals, considered as model systems for more complex thin film heterostructures, are investigated with respect to their structural and electronic properties. By exploring the influence of the organic-metal interaction strength in bilayer systems, we determine the molecular arrangement in the physisorptive regime for copper-hexadecafluorophthalocyanine (F₁₆CuPc) on Au(111) with intermediate layers of 5,7,12,14-pentacenetetrone and perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide. Using the X-ray standing wave technique to distinguish the different molecular layers, we show that these two bilayers are ordered following their deposition sequence. Surprisingly, F₁₆CuPc as the second layer within the heterostructures exhibits an inverted intramolecular distortion compared to its monolayer structure.

Tailoring the growth and electronic structures of organic molecular thin films

In the rapidly developing electronics industry, it has become increasingly necessary to explore materials that are cheap, flexible and versatile which have led to significant research efforts towards organic molecular thin films. Organic molecules are unique compared to their inorganic atomic counterparts as their properties can be tuned drastically through chemical functionalization, offering versatility, though their extended shape and weak intermolecular interactions bring significant challenges to the control of both the growth and the electronic structures of molecular thin films. In this paper, we will review the self-assembly process and how to establish long-range ordered organic molecular thin films. We will also discuss how the electronic structures of thin films are impacted by the molecule's local electrostatic environment and its interaction with the substrate, within the context of controlling interfacial energy level alignment between organic semiconductors and electrodes in electronic devices.

Effect of the Interfacial Energy Landscape on Photoinduced Charge Generation at the ZnPc/MoS2 Interface

Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenide crystals (TMDC) can be combined with other functional materials, such as organic molecules, to form a wide range of heterostructures with tailorable properties. Although a number of works have shown that ultrafast charge transfer (CT) can occur at organic/TMDC interfaces, conditions that would facilitate the separation of interfacial CT excitons into free carriers remain unclear. Here, time-resolved and steady-state photoemission spectroscopy are used to study the potential energy landscape, charge transfer, and exciton dynamics at the zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc)/monolayer (ML) MoS₂ and ZnPc/bulk MoS₂ interfaces. Surprisingly, although both interfaces have a type-II band alignment and exhibit sub-100 fs CT, the CT excitons formed at the two interfaces show drastically different evolution dynamics. The ZnPc/ML-MoS₂ behaves like typical donor-acceptor interfaces in which CT excitons dissociate into electron-hole pairs. On the contrary, back electron transfer occur at ZnPc/bulk-MoS₂, which results in the formation of triplet excitons in ZnPc. The difference can be explained by the different amount of band bending found in the ZnPc film deposited on ML-MoS₂ and bulk-MoS₂. Our work illustrates that the potential energy landscape near the interface plays an important role in the charge separation behavior. Therefore, considering the energy level alignment at the interface alone is not enough for predicting whether free charges can be generated effectively from an interface.

Electronic properties of hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor pn-junctions

Hybrid inorganic/organic semiconductor heterojunctions are candidates to expand the scope of purely organic or inorganic junctions in electronic and optoelectronic devices. Comprehensive understanding of bulk and interface doping on the junction's electronic properties is therefore desirable. In this work, we elucidate the energy level alignment and its mechanisms at a prototypical hybrid pn-junction comprising ZnO (n-type) and p-doped N,N'-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-(1,1'-biphenyl)-4,4'-diamine (α-NPD) as semiconductors, using photoelectron spectroscopy. The level alignment can be quantitatively described by the interplay of contact-induced band and energy level bending in the inorganic and organic component away from the interface, and an interface dipole due to the push-back effect. By adjusting the dopant concentration in α-NPD, the position of the frontier energy levels of ZnO can be varied by over 0.5 eV and that of α-NPD by over 1 eV. The tunability of this pn-junction's energy levels evidences the substantial potential of the hybrid approach for enhancing device functionality.

Polymer Solar Cells-Interfacial Processes Related to Performance Issues

Harnessing solar energy with solar cells based on organic materials (in particular polymeric solar cells) is an attractive alternative to silicon-based solar cells due to the advantages of lower weight, flexibility, lower manufacturing costs, easier integration with other products, low environmental impact during manufacturing and operations and short energy payback times. However, even with the latest efficiencies reported up to 17%, the reproducibility of these efficiencies is not up to par, with a significant variation in the efficiencies reported across the literature. Since these devices are based on ultrathin multilayer organic films, interfaces play a major role in their operation and performance. This review gives a concise account of the major interfacial issues that are responsible for influencing the device performance, with emphasis on their physical mechanisms. After an introduction to the basic principles of polymeric solar cells, it briefly discusses charge generation and recombination occurring at the donor-acceptor bulk heterojunction interface. It then discusses interfacial morphology for the active layer and how it affects the performance and stability of these devices. Next, the formation of injection and extraction barriers and their role in the device performance is discussed. Finally, it addresses the most common approaches to change these barriers for improving the solar cell efficiency, including the use of interface dipoles. These issues are interrelated to each other and give a clear and concise understanding of the problem of the underperformance due to interfacial phenomena occurring within the device. This review not only discusses some of the implemented approaches that have been adopted in order to address these problems, but also highlights interfacial issues that are yet to be fully understood in organic solar cells.

The relationship between the coherent size, binding energy and dissociation dynamics of charge transfer excitons at organic interfaces

At organic semiconductor interfaces, an electron and a hole can be bound Coulombically to form an interfacial charge transfer (CT) exciton. It is still under debate how a CT exciton can overcome its strong binding and dissociate into free carriers. Experimentally, capturing the evolution of the CT exciton on time (fs-ps) and length scales (nm) in which the dissociation process occurs is challenging. To overcome this challenge, time-resolved two photon photoemission spectroscopy is used to measure the binding energies and electronic coherent sizes of a series of CT states at organic interfaces, and capture the temporal dynamics of these CT excitons after their excitation. Using zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc)/fullerene (C₆₀) interface as a model system, it is shown that the interfacial CT process first populates a hot CT state with a coherent size of ~4 nm. Hot and delocalized CT excitons subsequently relax into CT excitons with lower energies and smaller coherent sizes. To correlate the CT exciton properties with the dissociation efficiency, we develop a method that exploits graphene field effect transistors to probe the rate and yield of free carrier generation at the interface. Our results show that exciton dissociation can be more efficient if one can extract electrons from the hot and delocalized CT state. We propose a cascade structure that would serve this purpose.

Effect of Band Bending and Energy Level Alignment at the Donor/Acceptor Interface on Open-Circuit Voltage in Organic Solar Cells

Open-circuit voltage ( V_OC) is a key parameter governing the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. We clarified the effect of band bending in organic semiconductor films on the V_OC of phthalocyanine (H₂Pc)/fullerene (C₆₀) planar heterojunction (PHJ) OSCs. The V_OC was significantly affected by the H₂Pc layer thickness, varying from 0.20 V at 2 nm to 0.49 V at 100 nm thickness. The large V_OC change is due to the band bending in the H₂Pc layer, where the difference in H₂Pc layer thickness led to significant changes in the degree of the vacuum-level shift in the C₆₀ layer because of the Fermi level ( E_F) difference between the H₂Pc and C₆₀ layers. This result demonstrated that a new influential factor affecting the V_OC is the position of the E_F that is dependent on band bending in organic semiconductor films.

Uniaxial Alignment of Conjugated Polymer Films for High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors

Polymer semiconductors have been experiencing a remarkable improvement in electronic and optoelectronic properties, which are largely related to the recent development of a vast library of high-performance, donor-acceptor copolymers showing alternation of chemical moieties with different electronic affinities along their backbones. Such steady improvement is making conjugated polymers even more appealing for large-area and flexible electronic applications, from distributed and portable electronics to healthcare devices, where cost-effective manufacturing, light weight, and ease of integration represent key benefits. Recently, a strong boost to charge carrier mobility in polymer-based field-effect transistors, consistently achieving the range from 1.0 to 10 cm² V^-1 s^-1 for both holes and electrons, has been given by uniaxial backbone alignment of polymers in thin films, inducing strong transport anisotropy and favoring enhanced transport properties along the alignment direction. Herein, an overview on this topic is provided with a focus on the processing-structure-property relationships that enable the controlled and uniform alignment of polymer films over large areas with scalable processes. The key aspects are specific molecular structures, such as planarized backbones with a reduced degree of conformational disorder, solution formulation with controlled aggregation, and deposition techniques inducing suitable directional flow.

Universal strategy for Ohmic hole injection into organic semiconductors with high ionization energies

Barrier-free (Ohmic) contacts are a key requirement for efficient organic optoelectronic devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and field-effect transistors. Here, we propose a simple and robust way of forming an Ohmic hole contact on organic semiconductors with a high ionization energy (IE). The injected hole current from high-work-function metal-oxide electrodes is improved by more than an order of magnitude by using an interlayer for which the sole requirement is that it has a higher IE than the organic semiconductor. Insertion of the interlayer results in electrostatic decoupling of the electrode from the semiconductor and realignment of the Fermi level with the IE of the organic semiconductor. The Ohmic-contact formation is illustrated for a number of material combinations and solves the problem of hole injection into organic semiconductors with a high IE of up to 6 eV.

Organic Planar Heterojunctions: From Models for Interfaces in Bulk Heterojunctions to High-Performance Solar Cells

Recent progress regarding planar heterojunctions (PHJs) is reviewed, with respect to the fundamental understanding of the photophysical processes at the donor/acceptor interfaces in organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs). The current state of OPV research is summarized and the advantages of PHJs as models for exploring the relationship between organic interfaces and device characteristics described. The preparation methods and the characterization of PHJ structures to provide key points for the appropriate handling of PHJs. Next, we describe the effects of the donor/acceptor interface on each photoelectric conversion process are reviewed by examining various PHJ systems to clarify what is currently known and not known. Finally, it is discussed how we the knowledge obtained by studies of PHJs can be used to overcome the current limits of OPV efficiency.

Mapping Energy Levels for Organic Heterojunctions

An organic semiconductor thin film is a solid-state matter comprising one or more molecules. For applications in electronics and photonics, several distinct functional organic thin films are stacked together to create a variety of devices such as organic light-emitting diodes and organic solar cells. The energy levels at these thin-film junctions dictate various electronic processes such as the charge transport across these junctions, the exciton dissociation rates at donor-acceptor molecular interfaces, and the charge trapping during exciton formation in a host-dopant system. These electronic processes are vital to a device's performance and functionality. To uncover a general scientific principle in governing the interface energy levels, highest occupied molecular orbitals, and vacuum level dipoles, herein a comprehensive experimental research is conducted on several dozens of organic-organic heterojunctions representative of various device applications. It is found that the experimental data map on interface energy levels, after correcting variables such as molecular orientation-dependent ionization energies, consists of three distinct regions depending on interface fundamental physical parameters such as Fermi energy, work function, highest occupied molecular orbitals, and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals. This general energy map provides a master guide in selection of new materials for fabricating future generations of organic semiconductor devices.

On the correct interpretation of the low voltage regime in intrinsic single-carrier devices

We discuss the approach of determining the charge-carrier density of a single-carrier device by combining Ohm's law and the Mott-Gurney law. We show that this approach is seldom valid, due to the fact that whenever Ohm's law is applicable the Mott-Gurney law is usually not, and vice versa. We do this using a numerical drift-diffusion solver to calculate the current density-voltage curves and the charge-carrier density, with increasing doping concentration. As this doping concentration is increased to very large values, using Ohm's law becomes a sensible way of measuring the product of mobility and doping density in the sample. However, in the high-doping limit, the current is no longer governed by space-charge and it will no longer be possible to determine the charge-carrier mobility using the Mott-Gurney law. This leaves the value for the mobility as an unknown in the mobility-doping density product in Ohm's law. We also show that, when the charge-carrier mobility for an intrinsic semiconductor is known in advance, the carrier density is underestimated up to many orders of magnitude if Ohm's law is used. We finally seek to establish a window of conditions where the two methods can be combined to yield reasonable results.

Energy-level alignment at interfaces between manganese phthalocyanine and C60

We have used photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the energy-level alignment at organic heterojunctions made of manganese phthalocyanine (MnPc) and the fullerene C₆₀. We show that this energy-level alignment depends upon the preparation sequence, which is explained by different molecular orientations. Moreover, our results demonstrate that MnPc/C₆₀ interfaces are hardly suited for application in organic photovoltaic devices, since the energy difference of the two lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) is rather small.

Energy level alignment at planar organic heterojunctions: influence of contact doping and molecular orientation

Planar organic heterojunctions are widely used in photovoltaic cells, light-emitting diodes, and bilayer field-effect transistors. The energy level alignment in the devices plays an important role in obtaining the aspired gap arrangement. Additionally, the π-orbital overlap between the involved molecules defines e.g. the charge-separation efficiency in solar cells due to charge-transfer effects. To account for both aspects, direct/inverse photoemission spectroscopy and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy were used to determine the energy level landscape and the molecular orientation at prototypical planar organic heterojunctions. The combined experimental approach results in a comprehensive model for the electronic and morphological characteristics of the interface between the two investigated molecular semiconductors. Following an introduction on heterojunctions used in devices and on energy levels of organic materials, the energy level alignment of planar organic heterojunctions will be discussed. The observed energy landscape is always determined by the individual arrangement between the energy levels of the molecules and the work function of the electrode. This might result in contact doping due to Fermi level pinning at the electrode for donor/acceptor heterojunctions, which also improves the solar cell efficiency. This pinning behaviour can be observed across an unpinned interlayer and results in charge accumulation at the donor/acceptor interface, depending on the transport levels of the respective organic semiconductors. Moreover, molecular orientation will affect the energy levels because of the anisotropy in ionisation energy and electron affinity and is influenced by the structural compatibility of the involved molecules at the heterojunction. High structural compatibility leads to π-orbital stacking between different molecules at a heterojunction, which is of additional interest for photovoltaic active interfaces and for ground-state charge-transfer.

Electrostatic phenomena in organic semiconductors: fundamentals and implications for photovoltaics

This review summarizes the current understanding of electrostatic phenomena in ordered and disordered organic semiconductors, outlines numerical schemes developed for quantitative evaluation of electrostatic and induction contributions to ionization potentials and electron affinities of organic molecules in a solid state, and illustrates two applications of these techniques: interpretation of photoelectron spectroscopy of thin films and energetics of heterointerfaces in organic solar cells.

Role of Interfacial Layers in Organic Solar Cells: Energy Level Pinning versus Phase Segregation

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are assembled from a complex ensemble of layers of disparate materials, each playing a distinct role within the device. In this work, the role of the interface that bridges the transparent anode and the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) in an OPV device was investigated. The surface characteristics of the electrode interface affect the energy level alignment, phase segregation, and the local composition of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ), which is in close contact. The commonly used ITO/PEDOT:PSS electrode was tailored with a thin, low-band-gap polymer overlayer, called PBDTTPD-COOH, a variant of the established donor polymer, PBDTTPD. Three BHJs that were composed of a donor polymer and PC71BM, were examined, including the donor polymers PBDTTPD, PCDTBT, and PTB7, within the following OPV device stack: ITO/(interfacial layer or layers)/BHJ/LiF/Al/Mg. It was found that modification of the ITO/PEDOT:PSS electrode with PBDTTPD-COOH resulted in statistically significant increases of power conversion efficiency for the PBDTTPD- and PCDTBT-based donor polymer:PC71BM BHJs, but not for the PTB7:PC71BM BHJ. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) enabled determination of the respective energy level diagrams for these three different polymers relative to the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PBDTTPD-COOH electrode, and revealed no injection barrier in all three polymer/substrate pairs. The observed differences of efficiency were not, therefore, electronic in origin. ToF-SIMS depth profiling and detailed experiments to determine surface energies strongly suggested that the greatest factor influencing device performance was a significant change of the local composition of the BHJ at this interface. When favorable accumulation of the donor polymer at the

PEDOT

PSS/interfacial layer was observed, the result was higher OPV device efficiencies. These results suggest that for each BHJ, the surface energies of the electrodes need to be carefully considered, as they will influence the local composition of the BHJ and resulting device performance.

Organic heterojunctions: Contact-induced molecular reorientation, interface states, and charge re-distribution

We reveal the rather complex interplay of contact-induced re-orientation and interfacial electronic structure - in the presence of Fermi-level pinning - at prototypical molecular heterojunctions comprising copper phthalocyanine (H16CuPc) and its perfluorinated analogue (F16CuPc), by employing ultraviolet photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. For both layer sequences, we find that Fermi-level (EF) pinning of the first layer on the conductive polymer substrate modifies the work function encountered by the second layer such that it also becomes EF-pinned, however, at the interface towards the first molecular layer. This results in a charge transfer accompanied by a sheet charge density at the organic/organic interface. While molecules in the bulk of the films exhibit upright orientation, contact formation at the heterojunction results in an interfacial bilayer with lying and co-facial orientation. This interfacial layer is not EF-pinned, but provides for an additional density of states at the interface that is not present in the bulk. With reliable knowledge of the organic heterojunction's electronic structure we can explain the poor performance of these in photovoltaic cells as well as their valuable function as charge generation layer in electronic devices.