Hyeunseok Cheun

A Universal Method to Produce Low–Work Function Electrodes for Organic Electronics

A Sturdy Electrode Coating To operate efficiently, organic devices—such as light-emitting diodes—require electrodes that emit or take up electrons at low applied voltages (that is, have low work functions). Often these electrodes are metals, such as calcium, that are not stable in air or water vapor and have to be protected from environmental damage. Zhou et al. (p. 327; see the Perspective by Helander) report that a coating polymer containing aliphatic amine groups can lower the work functions of various types of electrodes by up to 1.7 electron volts and can be used in a variety of devices. Air-stable, physisorbed polymers containing aliphatic amine groups can improve the efficiency of organic electronic devices. Organic and printed electronics technologies require conductors with a work function that is sufficiently low to facilitate the transport of electrons in and out of various optoelectronic devices. We show that surface modifiers based on polymers containing simple aliphatic amine groups substantially reduce the work function of conductors including metals, transparent conductive metal oxides, conducting polymers, and graphene. The reduction arises from physisorption of the neutral polymer, which turns the modified conductors into efficient electron-selective electrodes in organic optoelectronic devices. These polymer surface modifiers are processed in air from solution, providing an appealing alternative to chemically reactive low–work function metals. Their use can pave the way to simplified manufacturing of low-cost and large-area organic electronic technologies.

Indium tin oxide-free and metal-free semitransparent organic solar cells

We report on indium tin oxide (ITO)-free and metal-free semitransparent organic solar cells with a high-conductivity poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) (PH1000) as both the bottom and the top electrodes. The PH1000 film showed a conductivity of 680±50 S/cm. A ZnO layer was used as an interlayer to produce an electron-selective electrode. The semitransparent devices with a structure of glass/PH1000/ZnO/poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester/PEDOT:PSS (CPP 105 D)/PH1000 exhibited an average power conversion efficiency of 1.8% estimated for 100 mW/cm2 air mass 1.5 global illumination. This geometry alleviates the need of vacuum deposition of a top electrode.

Polydimethylsiloxane as a Macromolecular Additive for Enhanced Performance of Molecular Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

The effect of the macromolecular additive, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), on the performance of solution processed molecular bulk heterojunction solar cells is investigated, and the addition of PDMS is shown to improve device power conversion efficiency by ∼70% and significantly reduce cell-to-cell variation, from a power conversion efficiency of 1.25 ± 0.37% with no PDMS to 2.16 ± 0.09% upon the addition of 0.1 mg/mL PDMS to the casting solution. The cells are based on a thiophene and isoindigo containing oligomer as the electron donor and [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC(61)BM) as the electron acceptor. PDMS is shown to have a strong influence on film morphology, with a significant decrease in film roughness and feature size observed. The morphology change leads to improved performance parameters, most notably an increase in the short circuit current density from 4.3 to 6.8 mA/cm(2) upon addition of 0.1 mg/mL PDMS. The use of PDMS is of particular interest, as this additive appears frequently as a lubricant in plastic syringes commonly used in device fabrication; therefore, PDMS may unintentionally be incorporated into device active layers.

Solvent and polymer matrix effects on TIPS-pentacene/polymer blend organic field-effect transistors

We report on a systematic study of solvent and polymer matrix effects on the phase segregation behavior of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) blends incorporated into two different amorphous polymer matrices, poly (α-methyl styrene) and poly (triarylamine), and using two solvents, chlorobenzene and tetralin. Optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction analyses, and optical absorption measurements are used to evaluate the film morphology, crystallinity, and optical density, respectively. These analyses are correlated with the extent of vertical segregation of TIPS-pentacene, as observed for the blended films by depth-profile XPS analyses. The microstructure and vertical phase segregation of TIPS-pentacene in blend films are found to be strongly influenced by the choice of solvent. Tetralin, a solvent with a high boiling temperature, was found to be more desirable for achieving distinct phase segregation/crystallization of TIPS-pentacene in blend films and best performance in OFETs with a dual-gate geometry. The electrical properties of top and bottom channels were consistent with the morphological characterization and OFETs processed from tetralin showed higher mobility values than those from chlorobenzene. Further modification of the annealing conditions in the TIPS-pentacene/PTAA/tetralin ternary system led to top-gate OFETs with mobility values up to 2.82 cm2/Vs.

Systematic Reliability Study of Top-Gate p- and n-Channel Organic Field-Effect Transistors

We report on a systematic investigation on the performance and stability of p-channel and n-channel top-gate OFETs, with a CYTOP/Al2O3 bilayer gate dielectric, exposed to controlled dry oxygen and humid atmospheres. Despite the severe conditions of environmental exposure, p-channel and n-channel top-gate OFETs show only minor changes of their performance parameters without undergoing irreversible damage. When correlated with the conditions of environmental exposure, these changes provide new insight into the possible physical mechanisms in the presence of oxygen and water. Photoexcited charge collection spectroscopy experiments provided further evidence of oxygen and water effects on OFETs. Top-gate OFETs also display outstanding durability, even when exposed to oxygen plasma and subsequent immersion in water or operated under aqueous media. These remarkable properties arise as a consequence of the use of relatively air stable organic semiconductors and proper engineering of the OFET structure.

Roles of thermally-induced vertical phase segregation and crystallization on the photovoltaic performance of bulk heterojunction inverted polymer solar cells

Brief 160 °C annealing treatments dramatically enhanced the performance of bulk heterojunction inverted polymer solar cells with an ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Ag structure. The influence of such treatments on cell performance has been correlated to vertical phase segregation and crystallization within the photoactive layer of such cells. The photoactive layer, comprised of a mixture of P3HT and PCBM deposited on ZnO, was annealed for 10–30 min at 160 °C. Depth profiling with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that such annealing resulted in enrichment of the P3HT concentration near the ZnO layer, particularly after 20 and 30 min of annealing. Crystallization of P3HT was detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses after 10 to 30 min of such annealing, with little difference in the extent of crystallization detected over this time frame. It was found that vertical segregation does not seem to play a role as significant as that of crystallization on cell performance.

Polyvinylpyrrolidone-modified indium tin oxide as an electron-collecting electrode for inverted polymer solar cells

We report on the photovoltaic properties of inverted polymer solar cells that use a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) modified indium tin oxide (ITO) layer as the electron-collecting electrode. An ultrathin PVP layer, prepared by spin-coating, on top of ITO, was used to induce a reduction of its work function, allowing it to act as an electron-collecting electrode. Devices made on pristine ITO showed s-shape current-voltage characteristics, which were removed after exposure to ultraviolet radiation due to a reduction of the work function of ITO. Inverted solar cells with ITO/PVP electrodes yield efficiencies comparable to devices with ITO/ZnO electron-selective electrodes.

Inverted polymer solar cells with amorphous indium zinc oxide as the electron-collecting electrode

We report on the fabrication and performance of polymer-based inverted solar cells utilizing amorphous indium zinc oxide (a-IZO) as the electron-collecting electrode. Amorphous IZO films of 200 nm thickness were deposited by room temperature sputtering in a high-purity argon atmosphere. The films possessed a high optical transmittance in the visible region (≥ 80%), a low resistivity (3.3 × 10⁻⁴ Ωcm), a low surface roughness (root mean square = 0.68 nm), and a low work function (4.46 ± 0.02 eV). Inverted solar cells with the structure a-IZO/P3HT: PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/Ag exhibited a power conversion efficiency of 3% estimated for AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm² illumination.