order provide an opportunity to understand many fundamental physical properties relevant to solar energy conversion. Additionally, organic crystals are promising in their own right due to the effi cient carrier and energy transport properties associated with their long-range order.In particular, crystalline and polycrystalline fi lms of pentacene (PEN) and its derivatives have high carrier mobility for charge transport (≈1−10 cm 2 /Vs hole mobility) [ 1 ] and signifi cant photoconductivity. [ 2,3 ] Moreover, PEN and many of its derivatives display a propensity for singlet fi ssion (SF), [ 4,5 ] a phenomenon that results in greater than 100% internal quantum effi ciency in organic photovoltaics. Numerous possible molecular functionalizations may modify solid-state structural and optoelectronic properties. [ 6 ] Therefore, elucidating the structure-property relation is important for the design of new functional molecular materials. 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)-pentacene (TIPS-PEN), [ 7 ] shown in Figure 1 , has recently attracted much interest. The bulky groups functionalizing PEN enable solubility in organic solvents and allow for solution-processing of polycrystalline TIPS-PEN thin fi lms with high carrier mobility and photoconductivity. [ 2,3,7 ] While TIPS-PEN apparently retains optical properties similar to PEN, its enhanced carrier mobility [ 8 ] and Relating the Physical Structure and Optoelectronic Function of Crystalline TIPS-PentaceneSahar Sharifzadeh , * Cathy Y. Wong , Hao Wu , Benjamin L. Cotts , Leeor Kronik , Naomi S. Ginsberg , and Jeffrey B. Neaton * Theory and experiment are combined to investigate the nature of low-energy excitons within ordered domains of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)-pentacene (TIPS-PEN) polycrystalline thin fi lms. First-principles density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory calculations, along with polarizationdependent optical absorption spectro-microscopy on ordered domains, show multiple low-energy absorption peaks that are composed of excitonic states delocalized over several molecules. While the fi rst absorption peak is composed of a single excitonic transition and retains the polarization-dependent behavior of the molecule, higher energy peaks are composed of multiple transitions with optical properties that can not be described by those of the molecule. The predicted structure-dependence of polarization-dependent absorption reveals the exact inter-grain orientation within the TIPS-PEN fi lm. Additionally, the degree of exciton delocalization can be signifi cantly tuned by modest changes in the solid-state structure and the spatial extent of the excitations along a given direction is correlated with the degree of electronic dispersion along the same direction. These fi ndings pave the way for tailoring the singlet fi ssion effi ciency of organic crystals by solid-state structure.
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have exhibited promising performance as transducers and amplifiers of low potentials due to their exceptional transconductance, enabled by the volumetric charging of organic mixed ionic/electronic conductors (OMIECs) employed as the channel material. OECT performance in aqueous electrolytes as well as the OMIECs’ redox activity has spurred a myriad of studies employing OECTs as chemical transducers. However, the OECT's large (potentiometrically derived) transconductance is not fully leveraged in common approaches that directly conduct chemical reactions amperometrically within the OECT electrolyte with direct charge transfer between the analyte and the OMIEC, which results in sub‐unity transduction of gate to drain current. Hence, amperometric OECTs do not truly display current gains in the traditional sense, falling short of the expected transistor performance. This study demonstrates an alternative device architecture that separates chemical transduction and amplification processes on two different electrochemical cells. This approach fully utilizes the OECT's large transconductance to achieve current gains of 103 and current modulations of four orders of magnitude. This transduction mechanism represents a general approach enabling high‐gain chemical OECT transducers.
The ultrafast spectroscopy of single domains of polycrystalline films of TIPS-pentacene, a small-molecule organic semiconductor of interest in electronic and photovoltaic applications, is investigated using transient absorption microscopy. Individual domains are distinguished by their different polarization-dependent linear and nonlinear optical responses. As compared to bulk measurements, we show that the nonlinear response within a given domain can be tied more concretely to specific physical processes that transfer exciton populations between specified electronic states. By use of this approach and a simple kinetic model, the signatures of singlet fission as well as vibrational relaxation of the initially excited singlet state are identified. As such, observing exciton dynamics within and comparing exciton dynamics between different TIPS-pentacene domains reveal the relationship between photophysics and film morphology needed to improve device performance.
Solid-state solvation (SSS) is analogous to liquid-phase solvation but occurs within glassy matrices. Organic solutes with singlet charge transfer (1CT) excited states are especially susceptible to solvatochromism. Their 1CT states and photon emission energies decrease when surrounding molecules with sterically unhindered polar moieties reorient to stabilize them. Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) organic light-emitting diodes feature such solutes as emitters in the solid state, employing efficient reverse intersystem crossing to harvest the majority of electrogenerated triplets. Here we explore the potential of SSS to manipulate not only these emitters’ 1CT states but also, concurrently, their singlet–triplet energy gaps (ΔE ST) that control TADF. By solvating the TADF emitter 2PXZ-OXD with progressively increasing concentrations of camphoric anhydride (CA) in a polystyrene film, we find that it is possible to finely tune the emitter’s photophysics. We observe a maximum increase in prompt lifetime and corresponding decrease in delayed lifetime of ∼60%. By contrast, the photoluminescence quantum yield peaks at an intermediate CA concentration, reflecting competition between increasing reverse intersystem crossing yield and decreasing singlet oscillator strength. Our findings demonstrate technologically relevant fine control of emitter photophysical properties, as varying the extent of SSS reveals the convolved evolution of different kinetic rates as a function of the 1CT state energy and ΔE ST.
Large-scale organic electronics manufacturing requires solution processing. For small-molecule organic semiconductors, solution processing results in crystalline domains with high charge mobility, but the interfaces between these domains impede charge transport, degrading device performance. Although understanding these interfaces is essential to improve device performance, their intermolecular and electronic structure is unknown: they are smaller than the diffraction limit, are hidden from surface probe techniques, and their nanoscale heterogeneity is not typically resolved using X-ray methods. Here we use transient absorption microscopy to isolate a unique signature of a hidden interface in a TIPS-pentacene thin film, exposing its exciton dynamics and intermolecular structure. Surprisingly, instead of finding an abrupt grain boundary, we reveal that the interface can be composed of nanoscale crystallites interleaved by a web of interfaces that compound decreases in charge mobility. Our novel approach provides critical missing information on interface morphology necessary to correlate solution-processing methods to optimal device performance.
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