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Oxygen incorporation in rubrene single crystals
Daniel D T Mastrogiovanni1, Jeff Mayer2, Alan S Wan2
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University Piscataway, NJ 08854.
Scientific Reports
|May 3, 2014
Summary
Intense light causes oxygen to react with single crystal rubrene, degrading its electronic properties. This light-induced oxygen inclusion mechanism was directly observed, unlike in dark conditions.
Area of Science:
- Organic electronics
- Materials science
- Photochemistry
Background:
- Single crystal rubrene is a model organic semiconductor with excellent electronic properties.
- Exposure to intense light degrades rubrene's performance, potentially due to oxygen interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanism of light-induced degradation in single crystal rubrene.
- To provide direct evidence of molecular oxygen's reaction with rubrene under illumination.
Main Methods:
- Photoelectron spectroscopy
- Scanning probe microscopy
- Ion-based analysis
- Isotopic oxygen exposure
- Grand canonical Monte Carlo computations
Main Results:
- Direct evidence of light-induced reaction between molecular oxygen and single crystal rubrene was observed.
- Rubrene crystals remained oxygen-free in the dark for over a year.
- No significant gas sorption into the rubrene bulk was detected computationally.
Conclusions:
- Light exposure triggers a reaction with oxygen, negatively impacting rubrene's electronic properties.
- A mechanism for photo-induced oxygen inclusion in rubrene is proposed.
- Understanding this degradation pathway is crucial for stable organic electronic devices.
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