Organic Salt Semiconductor with High Photoconductivity and Long Carrier Lifetime

Abstract

AbstractIntrinsic photogeneration of charge carriers in organic semiconductors is generally attributed to high energy ionization or exciton dissociation by a strong electric field. Here, high bulk photoconductivity is reported in pristine pentamethine cyanine films with photocurrent onset at the band‐edge of the organic semiconductor. Single‐layer cyanine diodes with selective hole and electron contacts show linear dependence of photocurrent with reverse voltage and light intensity. Numerical drift‐diffusion simulations reveal that the linear resistor behavior stems from low and unbalanced carrier mobilities giving rise to negative space charge. Slow bimolecular recombination kinetics of photoinduced charges obtained by time delayed charge extraction measurements show strongly reduced Langevin recombination with long carrier lifetime of the order of a millisecond. Such reduced charge carrier recombination puts forward a materials concept to be exploited in photodiodes and more generally in optoelectronic devices.