Acoustic interactions with semiconductors: progression from inorganic to organic material system

Abstract

This review article presents the insights of acoustic interactions with semiconductors, exploring a continuum from electron dynamics to exciton behaviour while highlighting the recent developments in organic material systems. The various aspects of acoustic interactions, encompassing the manipulation of electrons and their transport mechanisms for applications in the fields of acousto-electric and acoustooptics, explored by studying surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices integrated with inorganic and organic semiconductors, have been presented here. SAWs are guided waves propagating along a piezoelectric material surface, inducing acoustic strain and piezoelectric fields within a semiconductor upon contact. These fields create a dragging force, transferring energy and momentum in the semiconductor, which manipulate and transport charge carriers, thereby generates an acoustoelectric current. Furthermore, SAW can influence exciton dynamics via type-II as well as type-I band edge modulations, leading to alterations in their spatial distribution, causing transport of the electron-hole pairs as distinct charge carrier packets and as bound pairs, respectively, along the SAW path. This paper explores advancements in these phenomenons, shedding light on innovative applications and especially, novel insights into the dynamic interplay between acoustics and organic semiconductor physics. As the review concludes, it outlines challenges and prospects in the field of SAW and semiconductor interactions, providing a roadmap for future research endeavours.