Photodetectors that can sense not only light intensity but also light's polarization state add valuable information that is beneficial in a wide array of applications. Polymer semiconductors are an attractive material system to achieve intrinsic polarization sensitivity due to their anisotropic optoelectronic properties. In this report, the thermomechanical properties of the polymer semiconductors PBnDT‐FTAZ and P(NDI2OD‐T2) are leveraged to realize bulk heterojunction (BHJ) films with record in‐plane alignment. Two polymer blends with distinct weight average molar masses (
In this report, a high‐performance all‐polymer organic photodetector that is sensitive to linearly polarized light throughout the visible spectrum is demonstrated. The active layer is a bulk heterojunction composed of an electron donor polymer PBnDT‐FTAZ and acceptor polymer P(NDI2OD‐T2) that have complementary spectral absorption resulting in efficient detection from 350 to 800 nm. The blend film exhibits good ductility with the ability to accommodate large strains of over 60% without fracture. This allows the film to undergo large uniaxial strain resulting in in‐plane alignment of both polymers making the film optically anisotropic and intrinsically polarization sensitive. The films are characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy and grazing incidence wide‐angle X‐ray scattering showing that both polymers have similar in‐plane backbone alignment and maintain packing order after being strained. The films are integrated into devices and characterized under linear polarized light. The strain‐oriented detectors have maximum photocurrent anisotropies of 1.4 under transverse polarized light while maintaining peak responsivities of 0.21 A W−1and a 3 dB cutoff frequency of ≈1 kHz. The demonstrated performance is comparable to the current state of the art all‐polymer photodetectors with the added capability of polarization sensitivity enabling new application opportunities.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1639429
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10462682
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Optical Materials
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2195-1071
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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