Intrinsic Charge Trapping in Organic and Polymeric Semiconductors: A Physical Chemistry Perspective

We aim to understand the origins of intrinsic charge carrier traps in organic and polymeric semiconductor materials from a physical chemistry perspective. In crystalline organic semiconductors, we point out some of the inadequacies in the description of intrinsic charge traps using language and concepts developed for inorganic semiconductors. In π-conjugated polymeric semiconductors, we suggest the presence of a two-tier electronic energy landscape, a bimodal majority landscape due to two dominant structural motifs and a minority electronic energy landscape from intrinsic charged defects. The bimodal majority electronic energy landscape results from a combination of amorphous domains and microcrystalline or liquid-crystalline domains. The minority tier of the electronic density of states is comprised of deep Coulomb traps embedded in the majority electronic energy landscape. This minority electronic energy landscape may dominate transport properties at low charge carrier densities, such as those expected for organic photovoltaic devices, while the bimodal majority electronic energy landscape becomes significant at high carrier densities, that is, in organic field effect transistors.