Modeling Space-Charge Limited Currents in Organic Semiconductors: Extracting Trap Density and Mobility

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive model for space-charge limited currents in organic semiconductors, enabling extraction of trap densities and mobility from experimental data, with implications for device characterization.

Contribution

The authors develop a drift-diffusion based model accounting for contact asymmetry and built-in potential, improving trap and mobility analysis in organic semiconductors.

Findings

Estimated band mobility of 0.13 cm²/Vs for holes.

Total trap density deeper than 0.1 eV is 2.2×10¹⁶ cm⁻³.

Sensitivity analysis limits trap distribution resolution to energies between 0.1 and 0.3 eV.

Abstract

We have developed and applied a mobility edge model that takes into account drift and diffusion currents to characterize the space charge limited current in organic semiconductors. The numerical solution of the drift-diffusion equation allows the utilization of asymmetric contacts to describe the built-in potential within the device. The model has been applied to extract information of the distribution of traps from experimental current-voltage measurements of a rubrene single crystal from Krellner et al. [Phys. Rev. B, 75(24), 245115] showing excellent agreement across several orders of magnitude of current. Although the two contacts are made of the same metal, an energy offset of 580 meV between them, ascribed to differences in the deposition techniques (lamination vs. evaporation) was essential to correctly interpret the shape of the current-voltage characteristics at low voltage. A band mobility 0.13 cm2/Vs for holes was estimated, which is consistent with transport along the long axis of the orthorhombic unit cell. The total density of traps deeper than 0.1 eV was 2.2\times1016 cm-3. The sensitivity analysis and error estimation in the obtained parameters shows that it is not possible to accurately resolve the shape of the trap distribution for energies deeper than 0.3 eV or shallower than 0.1 eV above the valence band edge. The total number of traps deeper than 0.3 eV however can be estimated. Contact asymmetry and the diffusion component of the current play an important role in the description of the device at low bias, and are required to obtain reliable information about the distribution of deep traps.