title: Excitons and the lifetime of organic semiconductor devices.
abstract: While excitons are responsible for the many beneficial optical properties of organic semiconductors, their non-radiative recombination within the material can result in material degradation due to the dumping of energy onto localized molecular bonds. This presents a challenge in developing strategies to exploit the benefits of excitons without negatively impacting the device operational stability. Here, we will briefly review the fundamental mechanisms leading to excitonic energy-driven device ageing in two example devices: blue emitting electrophosphorescent organic light emitting devices (PHOLEDs) and organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. We describe strategies used to minimize or even eliminate this fundamental device degradation pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA Department of Physics and Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA stevefor@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Forrest
keywords: PHOLED; degradation; organic solar cell; triplets