Maibach, Julia (2014)
Preparation and Characterization of Solution Processed Organic Semiconductor Interfaces: Electronic Properties of Thiophene-Fullerene based Donor-Acceptor Systems.
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Ph.D. Thesis, Primary publication
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Item Type: | Ph.D. Thesis | ||||
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Type of entry: | Primary publication | ||||
Title: | Preparation and Characterization of Solution Processed Organic Semiconductor Interfaces: Electronic Properties of Thiophene-Fullerene based Donor-Acceptor Systems | ||||
Language: | English | ||||
Referees: | Jaegermann, Prof. Wolfram ; von Seggern, Prof. Heinz | ||||
Date: | 2014 | ||||
Place of Publication: | Darmstadt | ||||
Date of oral examination: | 22 January 2014 | ||||
Abstract: | Motivated by the increasing importance of organic optoelectronic devices produced via printing and other ink-based coating processes, this work focuses on the defined preparation and characterization of functional electronic interfaces of solution-processed organic semiconductors. Using donor/acceptor heterojunction interfaces from organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices as example systems, photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) is applied, which is an established and powerful method to decipher the chemical and electronic surface and interface properties of inorganic but also organic semiconductor contacts. In order to derive a band energy diagram containing energy level offset, interface dipole and induced band bending, controlled sample preparation conditions usually achieved through ultra high vacuum (UHV) and stepwise built-up of the targeted interface, starting with a monolayer or even below, are required. The implicit lack of methods for defined step-by-step deposition for most soluble organic molecules poses challenges for the photoelectron spectroscopic interface characterization of solution-processable heterojunction devices, which are to be overcome in this work. The presented interfaces govern crucial processes in organic solar cells. Thus, understanding their electronic properties and how they are influenced by the processing conditions is of key importance. Targeting the donor/acceptor interface of an archetype bulk heterojunction between Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and Phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), different preparative approaches of this interface are discussed and implications to an interface dipole between the two materials and possibly band bending in the donor are found. However, direct access to this interface has previously been hindered by the formation of a P3HT surface layer independent of the preparation technique. Therefore, thermal evaporation of PCBM was explored but has proven to be an inefficient method to produce chemically pure PCBM layers. For P3HT, a suitable replacement concerning stepwise deposition is found in α,ω-Dihexylsexithiophene (DH6T) as this small molecular thiophene can be deposited by physical vapor deposition as well as from solution. Through the substitution of the polymeric donor with DH6T, the interface between DH6T and PCBM could be characterized by an in-situ interface experiment based on stepwise evaporation of DH6T on drop-cast PCBM. An interface dipole of 0.26 eV and band bending of 0.3 eV in the donor is found while the Fermi level position in PCBM remains unchanged. Combining these results with experimental findings of differently composed DH6T:PCBM blends processed entirely from solution, a model was developed, which describes the interface between donor and acceptor for solution-processed bulk heterojunctions with a donor capping layer. To overcome the limitation of interface characterization using PES to UHV-integrated stepwise preparation, a novel ultra-clean wet deposition via an ultrasonic nebulizer unit is introduced. Design steps and method-related considerations such as wetting behavior are discussed and first results of the successful deposition of various organic inks are presented. In the case of DH6T, the perfect agreement between drop-cast, evaporated, and nebulized spectra shows the great potential of the newly developed method. In the case of PCBM on different inorganic and polymeric substrates, different thickness-dependent electronic interface properties indicating the formation of interface dipoles and space charge regions are observed for the first time. Therefore, the nebulizer method presents an innovative pathway to derive interface band energy diagrams for electronic devices deposited from inks. The results of this work highlight the relevance of direct electronic interface characterization for solution-processed systems to gain fundamental understanding of solution-based functional organic interfaces relevant to achieve efficient OPV devices. |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | photoelectron spectroscopy, organic semiconductor interfaces, thiophene, fullerene, PCBM, solution-processed interfaces | ||||
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:tuda-tuprints-39094 | ||||
Classification DDC: | 500 Science and mathematics > 500 Science 600 Technology, medicine, applied sciences > 620 Engineering and machine engineering |
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Divisions: | 11 Department of Materials and Earth Sciences 11 Department of Materials and Earth Sciences > Material Science 11 Department of Materials and Earth Sciences > Material Science > Surface Science |
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Date Deposited: | 08 Jul 2014 05:44 | ||||
Last Modified: | 09 Jul 2020 00:39 | ||||
URI: | https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/id/eprint/3909 | ||||
PPN: | 386756244 | ||||
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