Study of Spin dependent transport processes in organic materials

Materials and devices based on organic compounds play an important role in various technological applications, mainly due to their interesting electrical-magneto-optical properties combined with their unique mechanical properties, easy processing, versatility of synthesis and relatively low cost. Despite the prominent application field of these materials many aspects associated with their basic science are still not well understood. In this context the Organic Magnetoresistance phenomenon (OMAR) deserves to be highlighted. This phenomenon is associated with significant changes in the electrical conductivity of organic devices induced by the presence of small external magnetic fields at room temperature, being observed in various polymeric and molecular materials. In this study we have investigated the OMAR phenomenon in Alq3-based OLEDs. Electrical impedance spectroscopy technique in the presence of an external static magnetic field (EIS-MF) was employed in the experiments; distinct temperatures were considered. Differentiated methods of acquisition and data manipulation were employed to remove the typically observed signal time dependence. The following magnetic field effects (MFE) were observed on the electrical response of the device: (i) a constant reduction of around 1% in the resistance over the entire frequency spectrum and; (ii) significant changes in the capacitance followed by an intensification of the negative capacitance effect at low frequencies. Simulations employing two different approaches were carried out for the interpretation of the experimental results: (i) Equivalent Circuits and (ii) Small Signal Analysis via numerical solutions of the Boltzmann transport equations by Drift-Diffusion approach. The results suggest that the observed MFE can be associated with an increase in the effective mobility of the charge carriers and a reduction in the bimolecular recombination rate in the device. The results were interpreted in terms of the currently accepted models for the OMAR phenomenon. This thesis also presents a study about generation and charge transfer processes in cyanine dyes (near infrared absorbing compounds) which are promising materials for applications in solar cells. Light induced Electron Spin Resonance (L-ESR) technique was employed to study the presence/formation of paramagnetic centers in blends of these dyes with MEH-PPV polymer and fullerene (C60) to evaluate, respectively, the electron acceptor and donor character of cyanine dyes. (AU)