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Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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type of simple device does not work well as an LED because poor holeinjection leads to low efficiencies and high turn-on voltages. Much improvedperformance has been achieved using a layer of a hole-transporting conjugatedpolymer between the anode and the nanocrystal layer [1,3], as shownschematically in Fig. 2a. Conjugated polymers have semiconducting propertiesdue to delocalization of k-orbitals along the unsaturated polymer chainand are used in large-area LEDs and photodiodes in their own right [8,9]. Inthe nanocrystal LED, the polymer layer provides an intermediate energy levelbetween the anode and the nanocrystals, which assists the overall rate of holeinjection.In a photodiode or photovoltaic device, the processes are opposite thoserequired in an LED. Light is absorbed in the device, producing excitons whichmust then be split up into free electrons and holes. These charge carriers mustthen be transported to opposite electrodes without recombination, thusproducing a current in the external circuit. Again, conjugated polymers areuseful as hole transporters in conjunction with nanocrystals [5]. By mixingnanocrystals with the polymer as shown in Fig. 2b, excitons created in thepolymer may be dissociated <strong>by</strong> electron transfer from polymer to nanocrystal.Both electron and hole must then find a pathway to the appropriate electrode<strong>by</strong> hopping from polymer chain to polymer chain or from nanocrystal tonanocrystal, respectively.We will discuss the operation of LEDs and photodiodes in more detailin Section VI, but we can already identify the physical processes which areimportant in device operation. Photoexcited charge transfer between conjugatedpolymers (or other organic molecules) and semiconductor nanocrystalswill be examined in Section IV, together with recombination at the nanocrystal–polymerinterface. Charge injection at metal electrodes, carrier transportbetween nanocrystals, and charge trapping in nanocrystalline films willbe discussed in Section V.Figure 2 Schematic cross-sectional structure for (a) a light-emitting diode and (b) aphotovoltaic device containing both nanocrystals and a conjugated polymer.<strong>Copyright</strong> <strong>2004</strong> <strong>by</strong> <strong>Marcel</strong> <strong>Dekker</strong>, <strong>Inc</strong>. <strong>All</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Reserved</strong>.

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