The complex refractive index of fluorinated subphthalocyanines (SubPcs) deposited by vacuum sublimation is determined by spectral ellipsometry. Their performance as acceptor material is characterized in a range of donor/acceptor heterojunctions in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVCs) by current–voltage measurements under 1 sun AM 1.5D simulated solar illumination and spectral response. Both electron and hole transfer between donor and acceptor materials is demonstrated. Power conversion efficiencies of 0.96% are found with an open‐circuit bias of 940 mV. Hence, it is shown that fluorinated SubPcs can be considered as an acceptor material in OPVCs with an absorption in the visible comparable to that of well‐known metallophthalocyanines.

The effect of bathocuproine (BCP) on the optical and electrical properties of organic planar heterojunction photovoltaic cells is quantified by current–voltage characterization under 1 sun AM 1.5D simulated solar illumination and spectral response at short‐circuit conditions. By inserting a 10 nm BCP layer in an indium tin oxide (ITO)/subphthalocyanine (SubPc)/buckminsterfullerene (C60)/BCP/Al thin‐film structure, an increase in power‐conversion efficiency from 0.05 to 3.0% is observed, mostly reflected in the enhanced open‐circuit voltage up to 920 mV. Furthermore, the incorporation of a 10‐nm BCP layer in an ITO/C60/BCP/Al structure leads to an increase in built‐in potential from 250 to 850 mV, as demonstrated by electroabsorption. It is argued that BCP passivates C60 such that a 10‐nm layer provides a sufficient buffer layer that prohibits Al contacting the C60 where it would otherwise create donor states.

Ultra‐thin films of subphthalocyanine (SubPc) were grown onto Si/SiO2 substrates by organic molecular beam deposition and the complex refractive index has been characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The peak maximum in the extinction coefficient is determined to be 1.6 at 590 nm and the dielectric constant equals 3.9 in the limit of long wavelength. These values are extraordinary high when compared to the well‐known metal‐phthalocyanines and will be beneficial for the performance in a photovoltaic cell. The amorphous SubPc structure on top of indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) as well as quartz glass is imaged by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy and we have characterized the nearly flat surface topology. Next, subphthalocyanine films in combination with buckminsterfullerene (C60) have been studied in a planar bilayer donor/acceptor heterojunction by current density‐voltage characterization under AM 1.5 simulated illumination at various light intensities. A power conversion efficiency of 3.0 % under 1 sun was measured. Finally, the external and internal quantum efficiencies demonstrated peak maxima at 590 nm of 46 % and 55 %, respectively. Considering the abrupt junction at the donor/acceptor interface, the electron transfer from SubPc to the acceptor material is thus determined to be highly efficient.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Al/Cs/MDMO-PPV/ITO "where MDMO-PPV stands for poly͓2-methoxy-5-(3Ј-7Ј-dimethyloctyloxy͒-1,4-phenylene vinylene͔ and ITO is indium tin oxide… light-emitting diode ͑LED͒ structures, made by physical vapor deposition of Cs on the emissive polymer layer, have been characterized by electroluminescence, current-voltage, and admittance spectroscopy. Deposition of Cs is found to improve the balance between electron and hole currents, enhancing the external electroluminescence efficiency from 0.01 cd A Ϫ1 for the bare Al cathode to a maximum of 1.3 cd A Ϫ1 for a Cs coverage of only 1.5ϫ10 14 atoms/cm 2 . By combining I-V and admittance spectra with model calculations, in which Cs diffusion profiles are explicitly taken into account, this effect could be attributed to a potential drop at the cathode interface due to a Cs-induced electron donor level 0.61 eV below the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. In addition, the admittance spectra in the hole-dominated regime are shown to result from space-charge-limited conduction combined with charge relaxation in trap levels. This description allows us to directly determine the carrier mobility, even in the presence of traps. In contrast to recent literature, we demonstrate that there is no need to include dispersive transport in the description of the carrier mobility to explain the excess capacitance that is typically observed in admittance spectra of -conjugated materials.

We demonstrate that liquid metals can be used as cathodes in light emitting diodes ͑pLEDs͒. The main difference between the use of liquid cathodes and evaporated cathodes is the sharpness of the metal-polymer interface. Liquid metal cathodes result in significantly sharper metal-organic interfaces than vapor deposited cathodes, due to the high surface energy of the metals. The sharper interface in pLEDs with liquid metal cathodes is observed by neutral impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy and low energy ion scattering spectroscopy measurements. The influence of interface sharpness on device performance was studied by comparing current-voltage-light characteristics of devices with OC 1 C 10 paraphenylenevinylene ͑PPV͒ as electroluminescent polymer and indium tin oxide ͑ITO͒ as hole injection electrode, and different cathodes. Comparison of devices using a liquid Ga cathode and an evaporated Al cathode showed that light emission for the liquid Ga cathode is two orders of magnitude larger than for the evaporated Al cathode, and that the external light efficiency is increased by an order of magnitude. Since the work function of Ga and Al is nearly the same, the poor performance for evaporated Al LEDs is attributed to the formation of an interfacial layer where Al has diffused into, and reacted with, the PPV. This interfacial layer has poor electrical conduction compared to pure PPV, and contains quenching sites which reduce light emission. Low work function liquid metal cathodes were studied by using liquid Ca and Ba amalgams. The improved performance of liquid amalgam pLEDs is attributed to the different structure of the metal-polymer interface. The enormous increase in light and current through the amalgam devices compared to those using pure Hg demonstrate that less than 1 ML of a metal with a low work function at the polymer-cathode interface can have a dramatic effect on the performance of the devices. Devices with a liquid Ca amalgam cathode showed an increase of the current ͑by 50%͒ and brightness ͑80%͒ compared to devices with an evaporated Ca cathode, which is ascribed to reduced diffusion of Ca into the emissive PPV layer.