Abstract
The deployment of organic semiconducting materials for radiation detection is an emerging and highly attractive area of materials science research. These organic materials offer the enticing vision of technologies created from low cost materials that can be printed on-demand with a range of different tailored optoelectronic functionalities. An explosion in the number of available materials, improved functionality of materials, and sophistication of solution-based device fabrication techniques for organic semiconductors in recent years has led to considerable opportunities for the utilization of organic materials in the detection of ionizing radiation. Whilst the potential of organic semiconducting materials for low cost radiation detection is clear, transitioning these printable materials through to a commercial reality presents a significant scientific challenge. In this work we provide a comprehensive analysis of the use of organic semiconductors for radiation detection. We discuss the fundamental physics of these materials and how their conduction mechanisms, including charge generation and charge transport, differ significantly from established inorganic semiconductors. Various strategies employed to control the nanostructure in organic semiconductors in order to optimize charge generation and transport for radiation detection are discussed. We provide insights into the strategies employed to fabricate organic semiconducting devices at industrially relevant scales using roll-to-roll solution processing, and finally discuss existing examples of organic semiconducting materials utilized in the radiation detection arena.
Highlights
The utilization of ionizing radiation in many aspects of modern society has risen dramatically in the past few decades, leading to a growing demand for new innovative and low-cost electronic materials that can detect this radiation
New electronic materials must be developed that are compatible with these solutionbased manufacturing techniques and allow manipulation of the nanoscale architecture of multilayer thin films to create highly functional electronic devices [18,19,20,21]
The carrier mobility in single organic semiconductors (OSCs) materials is highly dependent on the crystallinity, a term used to refer to the molecular ordering and alignment within a material, and large aligned crystalline grains provide the optimum morphology
Summary
The utilization of ionizing radiation in many aspects of modern society has risen dramatically in the past few decades, leading to a growing demand for new innovative and low-cost electronic materials that can detect this radiation. The suitability of OSC materials for this purpose arises from the ability to modify their chemical, physical, and electronic properties and control their film-forming mechanisms through conventional wet chemistry [8] Because these materials are composed almost entirely of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, they have a response to radiation that closely mimics that of water, providing a key advantage for radiation dosimetry [9, 10]. The transport of charge carriers cannot be understood with a model of band transport due to the weak interaction among π-orbitals Each of these features becomes important when considering either indirect ionizing radiation detection (high energy particle interacting with a scintillating material, which produces optical photons), where photoexcitation of the OSC is critical, or direct ionizing detection of radiation (high energy particle interacts directly with the OSC substrate), where the transport properties are essential. It is worth considering how both charge generation and charge transport are unique in OSCs to understand how to optimize the use of these materials for ionizing radiation detection
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