Aggregate formation and its effect on (opto)electronic properties of guest-host organic semiconductors

Whitney E.B. Shepherd, Andrew D. Platt, David Hofer, Oksana Ostroverkhova, Marsha Loth, John E. Anthony

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

We quantify guest molecule aggregation and its effect on the photoconductive properties of guest-host thin films, depending on the guest concentration and host material. A high-performance anthradithiophene (ADT) derivative served as a guest, while functionalized benzothiophene (BTBTB) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) were chosen as hosts. Aggregates exhibited redshifted optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra, as well as reduced PL quantum yields. Propensity toward guest aggregation differed for PMMA and BTBTB hosts. Photocurrents dramatically increased as the percentage of aggregated guest molecules increased due to considerably higher charge carrier mobility in the aggregates. At low guest concentrations, BTBTB films outperformed PMMA films.

Original languageEnglish
Article number163303
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume97
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 18 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank M. Kendrick and G. Banton for technical assistance. This work was supported by NSF via CAREER program (Grant No. DMR-0748671).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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