The morphology and crystal structure of the first few molecular layers of organic semiconductor thin films at organic-inorganic interfaces are important from both electronic and structural perspectives. The first upright layer of pentacene on Si (111) forms on top of a disordered layer of strongly bonded pentacene molecules in a structure similar to the pentacene monolayers formed on insulators. We describe a high-resolution structural study of this crystalline phase of pentacene using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The arrangement of molecules in these layers observed with STM agrees the results of with structural studies using scattering techniques. The imaging conditions and sample preparation techniques necessary to achieve molecular resolution can be adapted to subsequent STM and scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments probing individual structural defects including vacancies, dislocations and grain boundaries within and between islands.

In this paper, we use a perylene diimide derivative serving as a destructive and an absorption layer of the “black cathode” of an organic light-emitting device (OLED). A thin and semitransparent metal between the electron transport layer and the perylene diimide is used for better electron injection and also serves as the destructive interference. The thickness of such layer is critical since thinner metal results in lower reflectance, but higher diving voltage due to worse electron injection. To enhance the electron injection capability, the thickness of the thin metal increases which in turns to increase the reflectance. Here, we used a double-metal configuration to decrease the reflectance and maintain the electron injection capability at the same time.

The syntxhesis, photo-physics, and electroluminescence of new types of Iridium(III)-encapsulated dendrimers are described. Thus, four different iridium complexes [Ir(III)(C^N)2(LX), Blue-DCBP, Green-DCBP, Yellow-DCBP, and Red-DCBP] with ancillary ligand tethered to the CBP dendritic unit were synthesized and investigated for their photo-physical properties. A large enhancement in electroluminescence performance was observed by using these dendrimers as host/dopant hybrid materials in layered emitting diodes. In particular, host/dopant ratio can be systematically adjusted by varying dendritic generations. These results demonstrate that new Ir(III)-encapsulated dendrimers can be used as potential single-layer materials for organic light emitting diodes. Large difference in the intra-molecular charge transfer phosphorescence quantum yields and electroluminescence effiencies were observed among dendriritic generations.

Insertion of TiO2 layer between Al negative electrode and active layer of bulk-heterojunction gave a high solar conversion efficiency and high stability. The TiO2 layer was prepared by spin-coating titanium(IV)isopropoxide (Ti(OC3H7)4) on active layer of blended P3HT:PCBM. The parallel resistance (Rp) is increased by inserting TiO2 layer leading to an increase in Voc. The TiO2 layer works as a hole blocking layer and prevents the physical and chemical damages by the direct contact between P3HT:PCBM active layer and Al electrode resulting in improvement of the parallel resistance and rectification. The efficiency of P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction cell with TiO2 hole blocking layer attained 4.05% with a Isc 9.72 mA/cm2, Voc 0.60 V, and FF 0.70 by using optimized TiO2 film thickness and ratio of P3HT:PCBM condition.

We have investigated band gap states in tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) with and without quinacridone (Qd) doping on fabricated indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/Alq3(:Qd)/LiF/Al devices by using a deep-level optical spectroscopy (DLOS) technique. Non-doped Alq3 sample shows a discrete trap level located at ∼1.39 eV below the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital band in addition to near-band-edge transitions at 2.2 - 3.6 eV. The pronounced 1.39 eV level is attributable to an intrinsic nature of Alq3 and can be active as an efficient generation-recombination (GR) center that may impact the photophysical properties. On the other hand, Qd-doped Alq3 sample exhibits a new deep level at ∼2.40 eV with increasing the double carrier injection rate, corresponding to the highest occupied molecular orbital band of the Qd. Simultaneously, this GR center is subject to charge up positively due to the presence of holes injected into the Qd doping level for Qd-doped Alq3.

PcZn as a well known organic semiconductor received new examination of its growth mode in thin films and reactions to oxygen exposure. PcZn thin films were grown on glass and polyimide substrates by physical vapor deposition. Ag electrodes had been deposited by a sputter process to allow electrical contact to the films. Conductivity measurements were performed in-situ during the growth of films under high vacuum conditions. Characteristic current peaks were observed and explained by a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode. Current voltage characteristics revealing space charge limitation could be obtained beginning in the monolayer range. For pristine films n-type conduction was observed. Following deposition an increase of the conductivity was measured, caused by changes of the film structure. Ripening under high vacuum conditions could be separately discussed from doping effects caused by oxygen exposure which led to the well- known p-type characteristics of PcZn.

We report the design, synthesis and photophysical properties of two new water-soluble conjugated polyelectrolytes, poly(9,9'-bis(6-N,N,N-trimethylammoniumhexyl)fluorene-alt-1,4-(2,5-bis(6-N,N,N-trimethylammoniumhexyloxy))phenylene) tetrabromide (P1i) and poly((10,10'-bis(6-N,N,N-trimethylammoniumhexyl)-10H-spiro(anthracene-9,9'-fluorene))-alt-1,4-(2,5-bis(6-N,N,N-trimethylammoniumhexyloxy))phenylene) tetrabromide (P2i). They have same electronic conjugation but the main structural difference is the presence of the anthracenyl substituent orthogonal to the polymer main backbone in P2i. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the two polymers as FRET donors to fluorescein-labeled single stranded DNA (ssDNA-Fl) was studied. It is observed the emission from ssDNA-Fl via FRET by excitation of P2i with a FRET efficiency of ∼60%. Fluorescein is not emissive within the ssDNA-Fl/P1i complex. We also observed clear PL quenching (Φ = 0.8 → Φ = 0.27) of fluorescein for P2i after electrostatic complexation with ssDNA-Fl. It suggests a quenching pathway of Fl emission through photo-induced charge transfer (PCT) in the electrostatic complex. Both P1i and P2i have same HOMO-LUMO electronic structures and a similar thermodynamic driving force for either FRET or PCT. It appears that PCT operates to a larger extent with P1i, proposing that the presence of the “molecular bumper” in P2i increases Fl emission by increasing the donor-acceptor distance, which decreases more acutely PCT quenching, relative to FRET.

We report a reduction in the contact resistance between pentacene and Au source/drain electrodes of organic field effect transistors (OFETs) with bottom-contact structure. By immersing the Au electrodes in a sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixture (SPM), the injection barrier between the Au electrodes and pentacene was lowered by approximately 0.2 eV and the contact resistance significantly decreased. The fabricated bottom-contact OFETs revealed a field-effect mobility of more than 0.66 cm2/Vs at a channel length ranging from 3 to 30 μm, which is comparable to that of top-contact OFETs with a 50 μm channel length. The transfer characteristics of the OFET with the SPM treatment were stable even after 44days storage in air under room illumination without any passivation. Moreover, the drain current reduction due to threshold voltage (Vth) shift under continuous application of gate voltage quickly recovered toward the original value with unloading of gate voltage.