Organic Zener diodes: tunneling across the gap in organic semiconductor materials

Organic Zener diodes with a precisely adjustable reverse breakdown from -3 to -15 V without any influence on the forward current-voltage curve are realized. This is accomplished by controlling the width of the charge depletion zone in a pin-diode with an accuracy of one nanometer independently of the doping concentration and the thickness of the intrinsic layer. The breakdown effect with its exponential current voltage behavior and a weak temperature dependence is explained by a tunneling mechanism across the highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap of neighboring molecules. The experimental data are confirmed by a minimal Hamiltonian model approach, including coherent tunneling and incoherent hopping processes as possible charge transport pathways through the effective device region.