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Spatial electron tunneling leads to space-charge-limited current in organic hole transport materials |
| Shaofeng Chen(陈绍枫)1,2,†, Yanfei Lu(鲁燕飞)1,2,†, Dongcheng Chen(陈东成)1,2,‡, and Shi-Jian Su(苏仕健)1,2 |
1 State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China;
2 Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China |
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Abstract The injection of electrical charge from an electrode into organic semiconductors directly influences the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. However, our understanding of the mechanisms behind charge injection remains incomplete. In this study, we explored the hole injection from an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode into a hole transport layer (HTL) by employing various organic interlayers (ILs) with different ionization potentials (IPs). It was demonstrated that using O$_{2}$ plasma treatment onto an ITO surface and incorporating an interlayer (IL) with a higher IP between the ITO electrode and the HTL can substantially increase the hole current density. This improvement leads to the achievement of barrier-free injection and the establishment of space-charge-limited current. We propose two synergistic mechanisms of spatial electron tunneling that govern the injection characteristics: electron tunneling from the HTL across the IL to the electrode that establishes an electrostatic equilibrium with a zero-injection barrier and an electric-field-induced spatial tunneling effect that occurs during device operation with applying bias. This research offers a strategy to achieve space-charge-limited hole current and provides an explanatory framework for understanding the underlying physics of charge injection.
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Received: 14 January 2025
Revised: 31 March 2025
Accepted manuscript online: 10 April 2025
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PACS:
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42.70.Jk
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(Polymers and organics)
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73.43.Jn
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(Tunneling)
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81.05.Fb
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(Organic semiconductors)
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| Fund: Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFB0408000), Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2019TQ05C778), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Grant No. 2019A1515011639). |
Corresponding Authors:
Dongcheng Chen
E-mail: mschendc@scut.edu.cn
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Cite this article:
Shaofeng Chen(陈绍枫), Yanfei Lu(鲁燕飞), Dongcheng Chen(陈东成), and Shi-Jian Su(苏仕健) Spatial electron tunneling leads to space-charge-limited current in organic hole transport materials 2025 Chin. Phys. B 34 078101
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