Spectroscopic evidence for trap-dominated magnetic field effects in organic semiconductors

Abstract

Polaron traps are ubiquitous in organic semiconductors and recent evidence suggests they might be crucial for the large observed magnetic field effects (MFEs) in organic semiconductors. Here we measure MFEs in polymer thin-film devices with engineered, radiative trap sites in order to spectroscopically investigate the influence of the traps. Surprisingly, the luminescence at the trap sites and the polymer backbone is found to have an opposite response to a magnetic field. All our results are compatible with a mechanism in which spin mixing at the traps can create the large MFEs observed on the backbone. This scenario is quantitatively confirmed by numerical drift-diffusion modeling with magnetic-field-dependent exciton densities at the traps. These insights solve an outstanding controversy within the research field.