A nanomesh scaffold for supramolecular nanowire optoelectronic devices

Abstract

Supramolecular organic nanowires are ideal nanostructures for optoelectronics because they exhibit both efficient exciton generation as a result of their high absorption coefficient and remarkable light sensitivity due to the low number of grain boundaries and high surface-to-volume ratio. To harvest photocurrent directly from supramolecular nanowires it is necessary to wire them up with nanoelectrodes that possess different work functions. However, devising strategies that can connect multiple nanowires at the same time has been challenging. Here, we report a general approach to simultaneously integrate hundreds of supramolecular nanowires of N,N'-dioctyl-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide (PTCDI-C8) in a hexagonal nanomesh scaffold with asymmetric nanoelectrodes. Optimized PTCDI-C8 nanowire photovoltaic devices exhibit a signal-to-noise ratio approaching 10, a photoresponse time as fast as 10 ns and an external quantum efficiency >55%. This nanomesh scaffold can also be used to investigate the fundamental mechanism of photoelectrical conversion in other low-dimensional semiconducting nanostructures.

Simultaneously Induced Self‐Assembly of Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) Nanowires and Thin‐Film Fabrication via Solution‐Floating Method on a Water Substrate

“…Haensch and co‐workers reported semiconducting thin‐film fabrication composed of aligned carbon nanotubes using the Langmuir–Schaefer method on water subphase . More recently, Samorì' and co‐workers and Lee and co‐workers introduced thin‐film fabrication methods for induced high‐quality organic thin film on aqueous surface . Although organic thin films fabricated by these methods could be formed by dropping of polymer solution onto the water substrate and the generated thin films can be transferred to secondary substrate, this method has critical limit that it was very difficult to control nanomorphology of thin films.…”

Vertical Organic Field‐Effect Transistors

“…[79] In addition, There is a clear exponential dependence between photocurrent and graphene/C 60 junction energy barrier (Figure 12e, inset). [134][135][136][137][138][139] Compared with planar phototransistors, vertical phototransistors will give much higher performances with more efficient separation of photogenerated excitons into electrons and holes and fast response rate due to their intrinsically much shorter channel lengths. Among the various organic solid states, organic semiconductor single crystals (OSSCs) have attractive advantages of long-range molecular orders and low-density defects, no grain boundaries, which have been the best candidates for fundamental studies and construction of high performance organic electronic/optoelectronic devices and circuits.…”

A Retina‐Like Dual Band Organic Photosensor Array for Filter‐Free Near‐Infrared‐to‐Memory Operations

“…In a human eye, retina photoreceptor cells distinguish photons of different wavelengths and convert them into electronic signals for interpretation. Though detection technology for visible light has been mature in the organic community, [11][12][13] near-infrared (NIR) photosensors are less progressed. [6][7][8] With an inherent flexibility, organic photosensors are lightweight, compatible under nonplanar sensing circumstances [9][10][11] and promising for artificial retina.…”

“…Due to circuit design, our retinal system accommodates a bimodal operation with respect to incident wavelengths. Though detection technology for visible light has been mature in the organic community, [11][12][13] near-infrared (NIR) photosensors are less progressed. Furthermore, with o rganic active layers deposited on foil substrates, an ultrathin (800 nm) visual system is enabled and conformal to arbitrary surfaces ( Figure 1b).…”