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Current–voltage, impedance, and transient conductance measurements have been carried out on indium-tin-oxide/poly(phenylene vinylene)/Al light emitting diodes. In these devices injection and transport is expected to be dominated by positive carriers. Fowler–Nordheim tunneling theory cannot account for the temperature dependence, the thickness dependence, or the current magnitude of the current–voltage characteristics. Space-charge limited current theory with an exponential distribution of traps is however in extremely good agreement with all of the recorded current–voltage results in the higher applied bias regime (approximately 0.7⩽V/d⩽1.6×106 V cm−1). This gives a trap density Ht of 5(±2)×1017 cm−3 and the product of μNHOMO of between 1014 and 5×1012 cm−1 V−1 s−1. Assuming NHOMO is 1020 cm−3 gives an effective positive carrier mobility between 10−6 and 5×10−8 cm2 V−1 s−1. The characteristic energy Et of the exponential trap distribution is 0.15 eV at higher temperatures (190⩽T⩽290 K), but this decreases as the devices are cooled, indicating that the distribution is in fact a much steeper function of energy closer to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels. The current–voltage characteristics in the lower applied bias regime (approximately V/d⩽0.7×106 V cm−1) can be fitted to pure space-charge limited current flow with a temperature and field dependent mobility of Arrhnenius form with a mobility at 290 K close to the above values. If NHOMO lies between 1021 and 1019 cm−3, then the trap filled limit bias gives a mobility independent value of Ht of 3(±1)×1017 cm−3. Capacitance–voltage measurements show that at zero bias the devices are fully depleted, and that the acceptor dopant density NA must be less than about 1016 cm−3. The impedance results show that the devices can be modeled on a single, frequency independent, parallel resistor-capacitor circuit with a small series resistor. The variation of the resistor and capacitor in the parallel circuit with applied bias and temperature are consistent with the space-charge limited current theory with the same exponential trap distribution used to model the current–voltage characteristics. Initial results for transient conductance measurements are reported. The transients have decay times greater than 300 s and exhibit a power-law dependence with time. This is shown to be exactly the behavior expected for the decay of an exponential trap distribution. Measurements at higher temperatures (290⩾T⩾150 K) give an Et of 0.15 eV, in excellent agreement with that found from the current–voltage measurements. This value of Et is exactly that found by similar analysis of the current–voltage characteristics in negative carrier dominated dialkoxy poly(phenylene vinylene) and Mq3 devices. It is proposed that this bulk transport dominated behavior is purely a consequence of hopping conduction through an approximately Gaussian density of states in which the deep sites act as traps.

We report scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements of the threshold energy for injecting electrons or holes into thin, conjugated polymer films deposited on Au(111) substrates. Combining these results with optical absorption measurements, we estimate an exciton binding energy of E b 0.36 6 0.10 eV for poly[(2-methoxy-5-dodecyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene-co-1,4-phenylenevinylene] and E b 0.30 6 0.10 eV for poly (9,9'-dioctylfluorene). In addition, we determine the alignment of the electronic levels of the polymers relative to the substrate. [S0031-9007(98)06767-2]

Mobile ions in hybrid perovskite semiconductors introduce a new degree of freedom to electronic devices suggesting applications beyond photovoltaics. An intuitive device model describing the interplay between ionic and electronic charge transfer is needed to unlock the full potential of the technology. We describe the perovskite-contact interfaces as transistors which couple ionic charge redistribution to energetic barriers controlling electronic injection and recombination. This reveals an amplification factor between the out of phase electronic current and the ionic current. Our findings suggest a strategy to design thin film electronic components with large, tuneable, capacitor-like and inductor-like characteristics. The resulting simple equivalent circuit model, which we verified with time-dependent drift-diffusion simulations of measured impedance spectra, allows a general description and interpretation of perovskite solar cell behaviour. Broader contextHighly efficient solar cells made using hybrid perovskite semiconductors may prove commercially viable. The success of these cheap materials is in part due to their ability to I.G., D.M. and P.B. initiated the project led by P.B. D.M. measured devices fabricated and developed by M.S., O.G., H.H., D.L. and P.D.; I.G. performed the simulations on software developed with P.C.; D.M. and P.B. developed the transistor description and circuit models; W.F. and D.M. performed the equivalent circuit fitting using circuit models coded by P.B. All authors discussed the results and participated in preparation of the manuscript drafted by P.B, D.M. I.G. and P.C.

Tuning the molecular ordering of COi8DFIC from flat-on and edge-on lamellae to Hand J-type p-p stacking results in broadened absorption spectrum and fine phase separation with the electron donor PTB7-Th, which promotes efficient exciton dissociation at the donor/acceptor interface together with enhanced and balanced carrier mobility, and leads to an unprecedented PCE of 13.8% of singlejunction, binary PTB7-Th:COi8DFIC solar cell.

We have studied the dynamics of optically generated excitations in spin-coated glassy films of poly͑9,9-dioctylfluorene͒ ͑PFO͒ and in ␤-phase PFO films using picosecond time resolved photoluminescence ͑PL͒ spectroscopy, performed both at room temperature ͑RT͒ and at 5 K. We also present measurements of the PL emission of PFO and ␤-phase PFO at RT and 5 K following continuous wave ͑cw͒ excitation. We show that the cw emission from ␤-phase PFO at 5 K is very highly resolved, permitting us to make an assignment of the different vibrational modes of the molecule that couple to the S 1 →S 0 transition. Via time-dependent spectroscopy measurements performed at 5 K, we are able to follow exciton diffusion and relaxation through an energetically broadened density of states to polymer chains having a longer conjugation length and lower energy gap. By comparing the relative emission intensity of the different vibronic transitions as a function of time, we are able to directly demonstrate that the lower energy emissive states are associated with longer conjugation length polymeric chains that have enhanced rigidity. At room temperature, we find that these relaxation processes occur faster than the resolution of our detector due to thermally assisted energy migration.

X-ray detectors are critical to healthcare diagnostics, cancer therapy and homeland security, with many potential uses limited by system cost and/or detector dimensions. Current X-ray detector sensitivities are limited by the bulk X-ray attenuation of the materials and consequently necessitate thick crystals (~1 mm–1 cm), resulting in rigid structures, high operational voltages and high cost. Here we present a disruptive, flexible, low cost, broadband, and high sensitivity direct X-ray transduction technology produced by embedding high atomic number bismuth oxide nanoparticles in an organic bulk heterojunction. These hybrid detectors demonstrate sensitivities of 1712 µC mGy−1 cm−3 for “soft” X-rays and ~30 and 58 µC mGy−1 cm−3 under 6 and 15 MV “hard” X-rays generated from a medical linear accelerator; strongly competing with the current solid state detectors, all achieved at low bias voltages (−10 V) and low power, enabling detector operation powered by coin cell batteries.