Detail publikace

Robust Dipolar Layers between Organic Semiconductors and Silver for Energy-Level Alignment

KRAJŇÁK, T. STARÁ, V. PROCHÁZKA, P. PLANER, J. SKÁLA, T. BLATNIK, M. ČECHAL, J.

Originální název

Robust Dipolar Layers between Organic Semiconductors and Silver for Energy-Level Alignment

Typ

článek v časopise ve Web of Science, Jimp

Jazyk

angličtina

Originální abstrakt

The interface between a metal electrode and an organic semiconductor (OS) layer has a defining role in the properties of the resulting device. To obtain the desired performance, interlayers are introduced to modify the adhesion and growth of OS and enhance the efficiency of charge transport through the interface. However, the employed interlayers face common challenges, including a lack of electric dipoles to tune the mutual position of energy levels, being too thick for efficient electronic transport, or being prone to intermixing with subsequently deposited OS layers. Here, we show that monolayers of 1,3,5-tris(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene (BTB) with fully deprotonated carboxyl groups on silver substrates form a compact layer resistant to intermixing while capable of mediating energy-level alignment and showing a large insensitivity to substrate termination. Employing a combination of surface-sensitive techniques, i.e., low-energy electron microscopy and diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy, we have comprehensively characterized the compact layer and proven its robustness against mixing with the subsequently deposited organic semiconductor layer. Density functional theory calculations show that the robustness arises from a strong interaction of carboxylate groups with the Ag surface, and thus, the BTB in the first layer is energetically favored. Synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy shows that this layer displays considerable electrical dipoles that can be utilized for work function engineering and electronic alignment of molecular frontier orbitals with respect to the substrate Fermi level. Our work thus provides a widely applicable molecular interlayer and general insights necessary for engineering of charge injection layers for efficient organic electronics.

Klíčová slova

charge injection layers; self-assembly; surfaces; photoelectron spectroscopy; energy levels; low-energy electron microscopy; scanning tunneling microscopy

Autoři

KRAJŇÁK, T.; STARÁ, V.; PROCHÁZKA, P.; PLANER, J.; SKÁLA, T.; BLATNIK, M.; ČECHAL, J.

Vydáno

29. 3. 2024

Nakladatel

American Chemical Society

Místo

WASHINGTON

ISSN

1944-8252

Periodikum

ACS applied materials & interfaces

Ročník

16

Číslo

14

Stát

Spojené státy americké

Strany od

18099

Strany do

18111

Strany počet

13

URL

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.3c18697

Plný text v Digitální knihovně

http://hdl.handle.net/11012/245522

BibTex

@article{BUT188450,
  author="Tomáš {Krajňák} and Veronika {Stará} and Pavel {Procházka} and Jakub {Planer} and Tomáš {Skála} and Matthias {Blatnik} and Jan {Čechal}",
  title="Robust Dipolar Layers between Organic Semiconductors and Silver for Energy-Level Alignment",
  journal="ACS applied materials & interfaces",
  year="2024",
  volume="16",
  number="14",
  pages="18099--18111",
  doi="10.1021/acsami.3c18697",
  issn="1944-8252",
  url="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.3c18697"
}