Highly sensitive, broad-band organic photomultiplication-type photodetectors covering UV-Vis-NIR

Abstract

UV-Vis-NIR broad-band organic photomultiplication-type photodetectors (OPMPDs) were fabricated with a device structure of indium tin oxide (ITO)/zinc oxide (ZnO)/(∼150 nm) active layers/Au. The active layers consisted of a 2,2′-((2Z,2′Z)-((12,13-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3-undecyl-9-(undecyloxy)-12,13-dihydro-[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-e]thieno[2′′,3′′:4′,5′]thieno[2′,3′:4,5]pyrrolo[3,2-g]thieno[3,2-b]indole-2,10-diyl)bis(methaneylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (Y6-1O):5-(5-(4,8-bis(4-chloro-5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)-6-methylbenzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophen-2-yl)-4-(2-butyloctyl)-2-yl)-8-(4-(2-butyloctyl)-5-thiophen-2-yl)dithieno[3′,2′:3,4;2′′,3′′:5,6]benzo[1,2-c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (D18-Cl) (1.6 : 1, wt/wt) layer determining the spectral response range and one photomultiplication (PM) layer [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM):poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) (100 : 5, wt/wt). The spectral response of the double-layered OPMPDs was determined by the trapped-hole distribution in PC₇₁BM:P3HT near by Au electrode, which mainly originated from the photogenerated hole in the Y6-1O:D18-Cl layer. The trapped-hole in P3HT induced interfacial band-bending for efficient electron-tunneling injection from the Au electrode. The trapped-hole-induced electron-tunneling injection could be markedly enhanced by increasing the applied voltage, leading to markedly improved external quantum efficiency (EQE) values. The double-layered OPMPDs exhibited a broad spectral response range from 300 to 1000 nm, and achieved a highly effective EQE of approximately 50 400% at 360 nm under an applied voltage of 5 V, which was the highest value among organic photodetectors (OPDs) under the same applied voltage. Moreover, the maximum specific detectivity (D*) of 3 × 10¹² jones and a linear dynamic range (LDR) of 120 dB at 810 nm under an applied voltage of 5 V were achieved in the double-layered OPMPDs. This study brings forward a smart strategy to achieve high performance broad-band OPMPDs by employing double-layered thin active layers.