Accurate on-chip measurement of the Seebeck coefficient of high mobility small molecule organic semiconductors

We present measurements of the Seebeck coefficient in two high mobility organic small molecules, 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8-BTBT) and 2,9-didecyl-dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (C10-DNTT). The measurements are performed in a field effect transistor structure with high field effect mobilities of approximately 3 cm2/V s. This allows us to observe both the charge concentration and temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient. We find a strong logarithmic dependence upon charge concentration and a temperature dependence within the measurement uncertainty. Despite performing the measurements on highly polycrystalline evaporated films, we see an agreement in the Seebeck coefficient with modelled values from Shi et al. [Chem. Mater. 26, 2669 (2014)] at high charge concentrations. We attribute deviations from the model at lower charge concentrations to charge trapping.We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from AIP Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.493175

Distinguishing spin pumping from spin rectification in lateral spin pumping device architectures based on doped organic semiconductors

Over the last two decades organic spintronics has developed into a striving field with exciting reports of long spin diffusion lengths and spin relaxation times in organic semiconductors (OSCs). Easily processed and inexpensive, OSCs are considered a potential alternative to inorganic materials for use in spintronic applications. Spin currents have been detected in a wide range of materials, however, there is still uncertainty over the origin of the signals. Recently, we explored spin transport through an organic semiconductor with lateral spin injection and detection architectures, where the injected spin current is detected non-locally via spin-to-charge conversion in an inorganic detector. In this work we show that the widely-used control experiments like linear power dependence and inversion of the signal with the magnetic field are not sufficient evidence of spin transport and can lead to an incorrect interpretation of the signal. Here, we use in-plane angular dependent measurements to separate pure spin signal from parasitic effects arising from spin rectification (SREs). Apart from well established anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) and anomalous Hall effect (AHE), we observed a novel effect which we call spurious inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE). It strongly resembles ISHE behaviour, but arises in the ferromagnet rather than the detector meaning this additional effect has to be considered in future work

Investigation of the thermoelectric response in conducting polymers doped by solid-state diffusion

The thermoelectric effect is a physical phenomenon which intricately relates the thermal energy of charge carriers to their charge transport. Understanding the mechanism of this interaction in different systems lies at the heart of inventing novel materials which can revolutionize thermoelectric power gener- ation technology. Despite a recent surge of interest in organic thermoelectric materials, the community has had difficulties in formulating the charge trans- port mechanism in the presence of a significant degree of disorder. Here, we analyze the thermoelectric properties of various conducting polymers doped by a solid-state diffusion of dopant molecules based on a transport model with a power-law energy-dependence of transport function. A fine control of the degree of doping via post-doping annealing provides an accurate empirical evidence of a strong energy dependence of the carrier mobility in the conducting polymers. A superior thermoelectric power factor of conducting polymers doped by solid-state diffusion to that of other doping methods can be attributed to a resulting higher intrinsic mobility and higher free carrier concentration.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement n 610115. Keehoon Kang thanks the for financial support from Samsung Scholarship Foundation and the National Creative Research Laboratory program (Grant No. 2012026372) through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT. K.B. acknowledges funding by the German Research Foundation (BR 4869/1-1)

Mechanical Properties of Organic Electronic Polymers on the Nanoscale

Funder: Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002661Abstract: Organic semiconducting polymers have attractive electronic, optical, and mechanical properties that make them materials of choice for large area flexible electronic devices. In these devices, the electronically active polymer components are micrometers in size, and sport negligible performance degradation upon bending the centimeter‐scale flexible substrate onto which they are integrated. A closer look at the mechanical properties of the polymers, on the grain‐scale and smaller, is not necessary in large area electronic applications. In emerging micromechanical and electromechanical applications where the organic polymer elements are flexed on length scales spanning their own micron‐sized active areas, it becomes important to characterize the uniformity of their mechanical properties on the nanoscale. In this work, the authors use two precision nanomechanical characterization techniques, namely, atomic force microscope based PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping (PF‐QNM) and nanoindentation‐based dynamical mechanical analysis (nano‐DMA), to compare the modulus and the viscoelastic properties of organic polymers used routinely in organic electronics. They quantitatively demonstrate that the semiconducting near‐amorphous organic polymer indacenodithiophene‐co‐benzothiadiazole (C16‐IDTBT) has a higher carrier mobility, lower modulus, and greater nanoscale modulus areal uniformity compared to the semiconducting semicrystalline organic polymer poly[2,5‐bis(3‐tetradecylthiophen‐2‐yl)thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene] (C14‐PBTTT). Modulus homogeneity appears intrinsic to C16‐IDTBT but can be improved in C14‐PBTTT upon chemical doping

Approaching disorder-free transport in high-mobility conjugated polymers.

Conjugated polymers enable the production of flexible semiconductor devices that can be processed from solution at low temperatures. Over the past 25 years, device performance has improved greatly as a wide variety of molecular structures have been studied. However, one major limitation has not been overcome; transport properties in polymer films are still limited by pervasive conformational and energetic disorder. This not only limits the rational design of materials with higher performance, but also prevents the study of physical phenomena associated with an extended π-electron delocalization along the polymer backbone. Here we report a comparative transport study of several high-mobility conjugated polymers by field-effect-modulated Seebeck, transistor and sub-bandgap optical absorption measurements. We show that in several of these polymers, most notably in a recently reported, indacenodithiophene-based donor-acceptor copolymer with a near-amorphous microstructure, the charge transport properties approach intrinsic disorder-free limits at which all molecular sites are thermally accessible. Molecular dynamics simulations identify the origin of this long sought-after regime as a planar, torsion-free backbone conformation that is surprisingly resilient to side-chain disorder. Our results provide molecular-design guidelines for 'disorder-free' conjugated polymers.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through a programme grant (EP/G060738/1) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) (PORSCHED project). D. Venkateshvaran acknowledges financial support from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust through a Cambridge International Scholarship. K. Broch acknowledges post-doctoral fellowship support from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Mateusz Zelazny acknowledges funding from the NanoDTC in Cambridge. The work in Mons was supported by the European Commission / Région Wallonne (FEDER – Smartfilm RF project), the Interuniversity Attraction Pole program of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (PAI 7/05), Programme d’Excellence de la Région Wallonne (OPTI2MAT project) and FNRS-FRFC. D.B. and J.C. are FNRS Research Fellows.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version's available from Nature at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13854.html

Near-field magneto-caloritronic nanoscopy on ferromagnetic nanostructures

Near-field optical microscopy by means of infrared photocurrent mapping has rapidly developed in recent years. In this letter we introduce a near-field induced contrast mechanism arising when a conducting surface, exhibiting a magnetic moment, is exposed to a nanoscale heat source. The magneto-caloritronic response of the sample to near-field excitation of a localized thermal gradient leads to a contrast determined by the local state of magnetization. By comparing the measured electric response of a magnetic reference sample with numerical simulations we derive an estimate of the field enhancement and the corresponding temperature profile induced on the sample surface.This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through grant HE 2063/5-1 to JH. The work also received funding from the ERC synergy grant No. 61011

Roadmap on energy harvesting materials

Ambient energy harvesting has great potential to contribute to sustainable development and address growing environmental challenges. Converting waste energy from energy-intensive processes and systems (e.g. combustion engines and furnaces) is crucial to reducing their environmental impact and achieving net-zero emissions. Compact energy harvesters will also be key to powering the exponentially growing smart devices ecosystem that is part of the Internet of Things, thus enabling futuristic applications that can improve our quality of life (e.g. smart homes, smart cities, smart manufacturing, and smart healthcare). To achieve these goals, innovative materials are needed to efficiently convert ambient energy into electricity through various physical mechanisms, such as the photovoltaic effect, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, triboelectricity, and radiofrequency wireless power transfer. By bringing together the perspectives of experts in various types of energy harvesting materials, this Roadmap provides extensive insights into recent advances and present challenges in the field. Additionally, the Roadmap analyses the key performance metrics of these technologies in relation to their ultimate energy conversion limits. Building on these insights, the Roadmap outlines promising directions for future research to fully harness the potential of energy harvesting materials for green energy anytime, anywhere