Dewetting Stability of ITO Surfaces in Organic Optoelectronic Devices

Abstract

Heterojunctions are inherent in and essential to all molecular optoelectronic devices. In or‐ ganic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), the interfacial region between the active organic layers and the inorganic contacts plays a primary role in device performance, through the control of effective carrier injection and long term device reliability. In organic solar cells (OPVs), heterojunctions play a defining role in all of the major processes: charge separation relies on effective organic/organic interfaces; charge transport is critically determined by the structure of the thin film, controlled by the organic/inorganic interfaces with substrates; and charge extraction can only occur at high quality inorganic/organic interfaces at the electrodes. Stud‐ ies of various organic/inorganic interfaces have indicated that a wide range of interfacial types are possible in organic optoelectronic devices. To foster the next generation of devices, it is critical to understand the connections between heterojunction structure and morpholo‐ gy, and device performance. This connection is especially important with regard to the inter‐ facial stability and lifetime in organic optoelectronic devices. Control of the complex interactions and the microstructure at the electrode-organic interfaces would allow the opti‐ mization of performance and lifetime.