Beating the thermodynamic limit with photo-activation of n-doping in organic semiconductors
- 13 November 2017
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Materials
- Vol. 16 (12), 1209-1215
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat5027
Abstract
Chemical doping of organic semiconductors using molecular dopants plays a key role in the fabrication of efficient organic electronic devices. Although a variety of stable molecular p-dopants have been developed and successfully deployed in devices in the past decade, air-stable molecular n-dopants suitable for materials with low electron affinity are still elusive. Here we demonstrate that photo-activation of a cleavable air-stable dimeric dopant can result in kinetically stable and efficient n-doping of host semiconductors, whose reduction potentials are beyond the thermodynamic reach of the dimer’s effective reducing strength. Electron-transport layers doped in this manner are used to fabricate high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes. Our strategy thus enables a new paradigm for using air-stable molecular dopants to improve conductivity in, and provide ohmic contacts to, organic semiconductors with very low electron affinity.Keywords
This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- Toward a comprehensive understanding of molecular doping organic semiconductors (review)Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, 2015
- Alternative p-doped hole transport material for low operating voltage and high efficiency organic light-emitting diodesApplied Physics Letters, 2014
- Improved organic p-i-n type solar cells with n-doped fluorinated hexaazatrinaphthylene derivatives HATNA-F6 and HATNA-F12 as transparent electron transport materialJournal of Applied Physics, 2014
- High Mobility N‐Type Transistors Based on Solution‐Sheared Doped 6,13‐Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene Thin FilmsAdvanced Materials, 2013
- Doping of organic semiconductorsPhysica Status Solidi (a), 2012
- Passivation of trap states in unpurified and purified C60 and the influence on organic field-effect transistor performanceApplied Physics Letters, 2012
- p-type doping effect on the performance of organic-inorganic hybrid solar cellsApplied Physics Letters, 2011
- Molecular n-type doping for air-stable electron transport in vacuum-processed n-channel organic transistorsApplied Physics Letters, 2010
- White organic light-emitting diodes with fluorescent tube efficiencyNature, 2009
- High performance polythiophene thin-film transistors doped with very small amounts of an electron acceptorApplied Physics Letters, 2008