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Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Sung Kyun Kwan University IP: 115.145.196.100 On: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 05:38:23 Copyright: American Scientific Publishers RESEARCH ARTICLE Copyright © 2013 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Vol. 13, 8025–8031, 2013 Study of the Electronic Structure of the Interfaces Between 2-TNATA and MoO x J. T. Lim 1 , J. W. Park 1 , M. S. Jhon 2 , and G. Y. Yeom 1 1 School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Republic of Korea 2 Department of Chemical Engineering and Data Storage Systems Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA In order to understand the characteristics of ohmic hole-contacts for the inverted/conventional organic light emitting devices, a hole-only device with all ohmic contacts, which is composed of glass/ITO/MoO x /4,4,4-tris[2-naphthyl-phenyl-amino]triphenylamine (2-TNATA)/MoO x /Al, the ele- ments of the electronic structures of MoO x -on-2-TNATA interface and 2-TNATA-on-MoO x interface were investigated by photoemission spectroscopy, with regards to interface energetics, formative mechanism, and a potential charge carrier injection. The electronic structures revealed that the behavior of the interface between MoO x and 2-TNATA was different whether MoO x was deposited on (2-TNATA) or vice versa. The bottom interfaces of 2-TNATA-on-MoOx in this hole-only devices showed no hole-injecting barrier height ( h B when the thickness of 2-TNATA was deposited in the range of 0.1 to 5.0 nm on the 10.0 nm-thick MoO x thin films. This has been explained to be attributed to both metal-induced gap states and a chemical reaction at the interfaces. The top interfaces of MoO x -on-2-TNATA in this hole-only device structure also showed no h B when a hole was injected from the MoO x -on-2-TNATA interfaces to cathode. The hole-ohmic property in the top interfaces depends on interface dipole by the formation of charge transfer complexes as well as interdiffusion of MoO x into the 2-TNATA film in these interfaces. Keywords: Organic Light-Emitting Diode, Ohmic Contact, Hole-Only Device, Molybdenum Oxide, 2-TNATA, Electronic Structure, Ultraviolet Photoemission Spectroscopy, Near-Edge X-Ray Absorption Fine Spectrum. 1. INTRODUCTION Recently, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) have emerged as promising candidates for use in energy-efficient solid-state lighting and for cheap light sources produced on flexible foils as well as on flat panels. 1–3 Therefore, in regards to OLED devices, electronically functional organic materials have been intensively investigated with respect to various other applications. In many cases, the function originates at the interfaces 4 and the efficiency of OLEDs is extremely dependent on the carrier-injecting ability, which is related to the formation of resistance-free or ohmic contacts at the metal-organic interfaces. First, this carrier-injecting probability is strongly influenced by both the carrier-injecting barrier height, which is defined as the energy difference between the Fermi levels (E F of the corresponding electrodes and the relevant levels for conduction in the OLED. 4 5 Therefore, appropriate Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. aligning for the relevant levels in organic (or inorganic)- metal contact is necessary in order to maximize the lumi- nous efficiency and to minimize the power consumption by developing a low-voltage carrier-injecting layer. 6 Sec- ond, a phenomenon occurring through the metal-organic (inorganic) contacts can be explained by interface mecha- nisms, relating to not only the interface dominated by gap states but also the interfaces free of gap states. 4 5 The inter- faces free of gap states are well known to be dependent on both the Schottky-Mott model and pillow effect. Also, the interfaces dominated by the gap states have diverse origins such as both defect and chemistry-induced gap ones and metal-induced gape ones (MIGSs). The recent reports on several materials that yield extremely low-voltage devices have excited renewed inter- est in developing the next generation of contacting electrodes. 7 As a p-type dopant, transition-metal oxides such as molybdenum oxides (MoO 3 5 6 8–10 tungsten oxides (WO 3 11 vanadium oxides (V 2 O 5 , 12 and ReO 13 3 are promising candidates to replace the previous generation J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2013, Vol. 13, No. 12 1533-4880/2013/13/8025/007 doi:10.1166/jnn.2013.8199 8025

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Page 1: Study of the Electronic Structure of the Interfaces ... · TNATA thin lms with an incremental MoOx thickness on the 2-TNATA layer 10 nm-thick. The MoOx-on-2-TNATA layers werein-situfabricated

Delivered by Publishing Technology to: Sung Kyun Kwan UniversityIP: 115.145.196.100 On: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 05:38:23

Copyright: American Scientific Publishers

RESEARCH

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Copyright © 2013 American Scientific PublishersAll rights reservedPrinted in the United States of America

Journal ofNanoscience and Nanotechnology

Vol. 13, 8025–8031, 2013

Study of the Electronic Structure of theInterfaces Between 2-TNATA and MoOx

J. T. Lim1, J. W. Park1, M. S. Jhon2, and G. Y. Yeom1�∗1School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University,

Suwon 440-746, Republic of Korea2Department of Chemical Engineering and Data Storage Systems Center,

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

In order to understand the characteristics of ohmic hole-contacts for the inverted/conventionalorganic light emitting devices, a hole-only device with all ohmic contacts, which is composedof glass/ITO/MoOx /4,4,4-tris[2-naphthyl-phenyl-amino]triphenylamine (2-TNATA)/MoOx /Al, the ele-ments of the electronic structures of MoOx -on-2-TNATA interface and 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfacewere investigated by photoemission spectroscopy, with regards to interface energetics, formativemechanism, and a potential charge carrier injection. The electronic structures revealed that thebehavior of the interface between MoOx and 2-TNATA was different whether MoOx was depositedon (2-TNATA) or vice versa. The bottom interfaces of 2-TNATA-on-MoOx in this hole-only devicesshowed no hole-injecting barrier height (�h

B� when the thickness of 2-TNATA was deposited in therange of 0.1 to 5.0 nm on the 10.0 nm-thick MoOx thin films. This has been explained to be attributedto both metal-induced gap states and a chemical reaction at the interfaces. The top interfaces ofMoOx -on-2-TNATA in this hole-only device structure also showed no �h

B when a hole was injectedfrom the MoOx -on-2-TNATA interfaces to cathode. The hole-ohmic property in the top interfacesdepends on interface dipole by the formation of charge transfer complexes as well as interdiffusionof MoOx into the 2-TNATA film in these interfaces.

Keywords: Organic Light-Emitting Diode, Ohmic Contact, Hole-Only Device, MolybdenumOxide, 2-TNATA, Electronic Structure, Ultraviolet Photoemission Spectroscopy,Near-Edge X-Ray Absorption Fine Spectrum.

1. INTRODUCTION

Recently, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) haveemerged as promising candidates for use in energy-efficientsolid-state lighting and for cheap light sources producedon flexible foils as well as on flat panels.1–3 Therefore,in regards to OLED devices, electronically functionalorganic materials have been intensively investigated withrespect to various other applications. In many cases, thefunction originates at the interfaces4 and the efficiencyof OLEDs is extremely dependent on the carrier-injectingability, which is related to the formation of resistance-freeor ohmic contacts at the metal-organic interfaces. First,this carrier-injecting probability is strongly influenced byboth the carrier-injecting barrier height, which is definedas the energy difference between the Fermi levels (EF �of the corresponding electrodes and the relevant levelsfor conduction in the OLED.4�5 Therefore, appropriate

∗Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

aligning for the relevant levels in organic (or inorganic)-metal contact is necessary in order to maximize the lumi-nous efficiency and to minimize the power consumptionby developing a low-voltage carrier-injecting layer.6 Sec-ond, a phenomenon occurring through the metal-organic(inorganic) contacts can be explained by interface mecha-nisms, relating to not only the interface dominated by gapstates but also the interfaces free of gap states.4�5 The inter-faces free of gap states are well known to be dependent onboth the Schottky-Mott model and pillow effect. Also, theinterfaces dominated by the gap states have diverse originssuch as both defect and chemistry-induced gap ones andmetal-induced gape ones (MIGSs).The recent reports on several materials that yield

extremely low-voltage devices have excited renewed inter-est in developing the next generation of contactingelectrodes.7 As a p-type dopant, transition-metal oxidessuch as molybdenum oxides (MoO3��

5�6�8–10 tungstenoxides (WO3��

11 vanadium oxides (V2O5�,12 and ReO13

3 arepromising candidates to replace the previous generation

J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2013, Vol. 13, No. 12 1533-4880/2013/13/8025/007 doi:10.1166/jnn.2013.8199 8025

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Study of the Electronic Structure of the Interfaces Between 2-TNATA and MoOx Lim et al.

of organic hole injection layers at the anode, due totheir stability and their high work function (WF). Amongthese p-type carrier-injecting layers, MoO3 is frequentlyused as a hole-injecting layer (HIL) between a tin-dopedindium oxide (ITO) layer and a hole-transporting layer(HTL).5�6�8–10 The MoOx and MoOx-doped HTLs lead toohmic contacts when they are inserted between the ITOand the HTL. Numerous studies have been reported tounderstand why ohmic contacts can be formed. The stud-ies include the identification of charge transfer (CT) com-plexes by using both the untraviolet-visible-near-infraredabsorption measurements8 and Fourier transform infraredabsorption measurements.8�14 Also, there has been a studyon positive charge transfer at ITO/MoOx interfaces throughthe use of X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS),6

a study on a hole-injecting barrier height (�hB� between

the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level andan anode in addition to a study on the formation of newMIGSs below the EF through the use of ultraviolet pho-toemission spectroscopy (UPS).5

Meanwhile, the interface studies in the HTL-MoOx con-tact have been concentrated rather on the HTL-on-MoOx

layer (being used in a conventional OLED structure) thanon the MoOx-on-HTL (being used in an inverted OLEDstructure).15�16 Therefore, understanding the differences inthe electronic structure between a metal oxide and anorganic layer with respect to the deposition order is impor-tant in order to design an efficient OLED structure, whichinvolves both a charge-injecting efficiency and an inter-facial stability. Hwang et al. reported that the electronicstructure and electrical behavior between organic-on-metaland metal-on-organic are also dependent on the degree ofmetal surface contamination during the interface forma-tion, and which could cause an asymmetry of the interfaceproperties for the different deposition order.5

In this study, the key elements of electronic struc-ture, which include the MoOx-on-2-TNATA (the interfaceformed by MoOx deposition onto a 2-TNATA surface) and2-TNATA-on-MoOx (the interface formed by 2-TNATAdeposition onto a MoOx surface) interfaces, with regards tointerface energetics, formative mechanism, and a potentialcharge carrier injection, were investigated by using photoe-mission spectroscopy (PES). Also, the correlation betweenthe ohmic characteristics of a hole-only device, which hasan ITO/MoOx/2-TNATA/MoOx/Al structure, and the inter-facial electronic features was discussed.

2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

The electronic structures of the MoOx-on-2-TNATA and2-TNATA-on-MoOx layers were examined by using UPSand NEXAFS spectroscopy at the 4D beam line in thePohang Accelerator Laboratory in Korea. All measure-ments and depositions were performed in an ultra-highvacuum system, consisting of a main analysis chamber

(approximately 5× 10−10 Torr) and a sample preparationchamber (approximately 5× 10−9 Torr). For the analysis,all samples were prepared in-situ by sequential thermalevaporation on a p-type Si wafer in the ultra-high vac-uum system, which was connected to the beam line invacuum. Also, all thicknesses were determined by timeddepositions calibrated using a quartz-crystal microbalance.For the UPS measurements, the He I (21.2 eV) line froma UV source was used. In addition, the photoemissiononset reflecting the WF at the surface of all samples wasmeasured by biasing the samples at −5 V. The incidentphoton energy was calibrated by measuring the Au 4flevel of a clean Au surface. In the NEXAFS analyses,carbon K-edge (270.0∼320.0 eV) and nitrogen K-edge(385.0∼425.0 eV) spectra were measured at a photon inci-dent angle of 45.0�.The hole-only device was separately fabricated with

the structure of glass/tin-doped indium oxide (ITO;about 10 �/square, Geomatec Co. Ltd.)/MoOx(5.0 nm)/2-TNATA (10.0 nm)/MoOx (x nm)/Al (150.0 nm). The toplayer of MoOx was 0.1, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 nm, respectively.Each layer was sequentially vacuum-deposited by using athermal evaporator system. The active area of the deviceswas 2�0× 2�0 mm2. The current density (J )–voltage (V )characteristics were measured using a source-measure unit(4145A, Hewlett Packard Co.).

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Investigating the energy level alignments of the interfaceswith respect to whether MoOx was deposited on 2-TNATAor vice versa was important in order to understand themechanisms associated with the �h

B near the HIL/anodeinterface within the OLED structure. Figure 1 shows theUPS spectra of the pristine 2-TNATA and MoOx-on-2-TNATA thin films with an incremental MoOx thickness onthe 2-TNATA layer 10 nm-thick. The MoOx-on-2-TNATAlayers were in-situ fabricated by sequentially depositingMoOx after pre-forming the 10 nm-thick 2-TNATA layeron a p-Si wafer. Figures 1(a) and (b) show the valenceband (VB) spectra and the region around the EF of theMoOx-on-2-TNATA layers, respectively. The HOMO leveland the vacuum level (VL) appear not reached to a com-plete saturation even at 20 nm of MoOx on 2-TNATA.This is possibly related to the permeation of metal into2-TNATA relatively deep during the deposition of MoOx

due to the chemical reaction and an interdiffusion with2-TNATA of soft and relatively open organic matrix likethe example of the Mg-on-tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum(III) (Alq3� interfaces.

17

As shown in the bottom curve of Figure 1(b), the �hB,

the energy difference between the EF of the anode and theedge of the HOMO of 2-TNATA, was 0.9 eV. The ion-ization potential (IP) of pristine 2-TNATA, which is theWF energy level (4.2 eV) plus the HOMO energy level

8026 J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 13, 8025–8031, 2013

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Fig. 1. UPS spectra of the pristine 2-TNATA and MoOx-on-2-TNATAinterfaces. The thickness of 2-TNATA was fixed at 10.0 nm. (a) Thevalence spectra, (b) the region around the EF , and (c) the onset of thevalence band, representing the WF on the surface, at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces. The region around the EF in (b) was magnified byapproximately 2000 times. The nanometers in the figures indicate thethicknesses of MoOx . The bar indicates the onset of the HOMO and WFin (b) and (c), respectively.

(0.9 eV), was measured as 5.1 eV in Figure 1(b). In addi-tion, the 2-TNATA has a band gap of about 3.0 eV.18

This IP value was consistent with the previous report.18�19

When MoOx of 0.1 nm to 5.0 nm was vacuum-evaporatedon the 10.0 nm-thick 2-TNATA, the main features in VBband spectra of 2-TNATA were still clearly detected, butthe position of HOMO as reference to that of pristine2-TNATA shifts toward the EF by 0.2 and 0.8 eV, respec-tively. The result indicated that the �h

B from anode tothe MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces decreased from 0.9 eVto 0.7 and 0.1 eV with depositing MoOx of 0.1 and5.0 nm-thick on 2-TNATA, respectively. The decreaseof �h

B implies that a hole concentration can increase inthe MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces. Figure 1(c) shows theonset of the VB band spectra, representing WF on the sur-face. When compared to the VL of pristine 2-TNATA, theWF increased significantly with the deposition of MoOx

to 5.0 nm on the 2-TNATA layer. This change is expectedto be due to an interfacial dipole effect as well as a

weak chemical reaction in MoOx-on-2-TNATA film. Also,as the thickness of MoOx increased further from 10.0 to20.0 nm, the WF increased continuously up to 6.9 eV20

by a stronger interface dipole. By the shifts in the HOMOlevel, at the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces, the �h

B wassignificantly reduced and the carrier concentration couldbe increased in the organic films.Figure 2 shows the UPS spectra of the pristine MoOx

and 2-TNATA-on-MoOx thin films with an incremen-tal 2-TNATA thickness on the MoOx layer of 10.0 nm.Figures 2(a) and (b) show VB band spectra and the regionaround the EF of the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx layers, respec-tively. In Figure 2, the intensities regarding all curves arenormalized to the incident photon flux. A peak at approxi-mately 4.2 eV below the Fermi level in the pristine MoOx

spectra in Figure 2(a) is the oxygen 2p related states inO Mo bonding.21 The HOMO edge of pristine MoOx wasobserved at roughly 3 eV below the EF in Figure 2(a) andclear MIGSs were observed near 1.2 eV below the EF in

Fig. 2. UPS spectra of the pure MoOx and 2-TNATA-on-2-MoOx inter-faces. The thickness of MoOx was fixed at 10.0 nm. (a) the valence spec-tra, (b) the region around the EF , and (c) the onset of the valence band,representing the WF on the surface, at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces.The region around the EF in (b) was magnified by about 1000 times. Thenanometers in the figures indicate the thicknesses of 2-TNATA. The barin (c) indicates the onset of WF.

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Figure 2(b). As shown in Figure 2(a), after the depositionof a few tenths of a nanometer for 2-TNATA on MoOx,the intensity of O Mo bonding decreased, indicating theloss of oxygen in MoOx films. The MIGS peak intensi-ties below the EF shown in Figure 2(b) were observed togradually grow to strong intensities with more 2-TNATAmolecules deposited on MoOx.

These MIGSs at about 1.2 eV below the EF may havediverse origins.5�21 First, they could be produced by defectsand chemistry-induced gap states,5 and which correspondsto the formation of chemical bonds and/or defects between2-TNATA and MoOx. The formation of metal-induceddefects in the organic materials or the formation of anorganometallic complex, which exhibit filled or emptyelectronic states that overlap with the original gap of thesemiconductor, can be occurred when MoOx is vacuum-evaporated on a molecular film similar to the reactionbetween aluminum or magnesium and Alq3�

22 Second, theorigin of these gap states could be also related to thedefects due to the deficiency of oxygen and Mo–Mo metal-lic bonding in the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx films.21

Furthermore, when the thickness of 2-TNATA on theMoOx film was increased from 0 to 5.0 nm, all formedMIGS peaks were closely connected to the HOMO levelsas well as the EF at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces,which implies a greater transition of insulating MoOx tometallic MoOx. The reduction in oxidation states of MoOx

results in the positive charge transfer to 2-TNATA by ap-type doping effect in the 2-TNATA matrix.23 The MIGSpeaks generated from these processes at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces form a hole-ohmic contact without the�h

B because the HOMO level and the EF can be con-nected to each other through the top MIGSs at these inter-faces. Figure 2(c) shows the onset of the VB band spectra.The VL of MoOx was 5.5 eV20 in the bottom curves ofFigure 2(c). Compared to the WF of pristine MoOx, theWF was lowered to approximately 1.1 eV as the thicknessof 2-TNATA on MoOx was increased from 0 to 5.0 nm.The WF, HOMO, and MIGSH levels obtained from the

results in Figures 1 and 2 were summarized in Figure 3.Here, the MIGSH level was indicated as being the highestenergy level among the MIGSs. The �h

B in the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces was reduced from 0.9 to 0.1 eV withincreasing MoOx from 0 to 10.0 nm on the 2-TNATA layerin Figure 1 while the �h

B in the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx inter-faces did not exist regardless of the 2-TNATA thicknessdeposited on the MoOx layer in Figure 2. This uncom-mon behavior regarding the interfaces between MoOx and2-TNATA indicated an asymmetry in the interface charac-teristics with respect to whether MoOx was deposited on2-TNATA or vice versa. Meanwhile, as the result of theVL Shift (�� (that is, the change of WF) in Figure 3, someelectrons could move from 2-TNATA to MoOx, leading tothe negative and positive charging of metal oxide as wellas the organic layer, respectively. With interfacial dipole,the sign of � at the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces was

Fig. 3. Onset of the energy levels of (a) the MoOx-on-2-TNATA inter-faces and (b) the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces. The bottom layers arefixed at a thickness of 10.0 nm. WF, HOMO, MIGSH levels were deter-mined by UPS. Here, the MIGSH level indicates the highest energy levelamong the MIGSs.

positive with plenty of electrons at the vacuum side asshown in Figure 3(a), while that at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx

interfaces was negative with the deficiency of electrons atthe vacuum side, as shown in Figure 3(b).To find out the chemical reaction and electronic inter-

action between MoOx and 2-TNATA, the NEXAFS spec-tra were measured at the interfaces of MoOx-on-2-TNATAand 2-TNATA-on-MoOx, respectively. The NEXAFS spec-troscopy measured the absorption of X-rays that exciteelectrons from the initial state (core level) to the finalstate (vacant level). Also, the shape of NEXAFS spectradepends strongly on the molecular orientation. For exam-ple, in a planar � conjugated carbon system, the excitationfrom C to �∗ orbital is allowed for the electric vector (E)vertical to the molecular plane (parallel to 2pz�, whereasthe transition to ∗ is allowed for E parallel to the molec-ular plane and to the chemical bond.24

Figure 4(a) shows the NEXAFS spectra, which weremeasured at a photon incident angle of 45.0�, at the carbonK-edge in the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces with increas-ing MoOx on the 2-TNATA layer of 10.0 nm. The highestresonance peak of pristine 2-TNATA in Figure 4(a) is thecarbon K-edge 1s → �∗(C C resonance) of 285.5 eV,which was the transition to the conjugated plane of the 2-TNATA backbone.25 The peaks of about 289.1 and about294.3 eV exhibit a transition of 1s→∗ (C H resonance)and 1s → ∗ (C C resonance), respectively.24 WhenMoOx was deposited on 2-TNATA from 0 to 10.0 nm, themain features of �∗

C=C, ∗C–H , and ∗

C–C , in the NEXAFS

8028 J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 13, 8025–8031, 2013

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Fig. 4. NEXAFS spectra at the C K-edge of both (a) the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces and (b) the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces. Thenanometers in the figures indicate the thicknesses of (a) MoOx and(b) 2-TNATA, respectively.

spectra at the carbon K-edge, remain clearly unchanged.This implies that carbon species composing of 2-TNATAmolecules in the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interface do not reactwith MoOx during the deposition of MoOx on 2-TNATA.Figure 4(b) shows the NEXAFS spectra at the carbon

K-edge at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces with increas-ing 2-TNATA on the MoOx layer of 10.0 nm. At theinitial 2-TNATA coverage of 0.05 nm on MoOx, �

∗C=C

resonance of 285.9 eV shows a very weak intensity. Thisindicates a chemical reaction, breaking the �-conjugationsystem of 2-TNATA molecules on the MoOx layer.Although �-conjugation of 2-TNATA molecules recov-ers with increased deposition of 2-TNATA, the decompo-sition of 2-TNATA molecules was still clearly detectedeven for the 2-TNATA deposition of 2.0 nm. On the otherhand, the intensities associated to both ∗

C–H (288.5 eV) and∗C–C(285.5 eV) resonances remained nearly unchanged at

all coverage from 0.05 to 5.0 nm. In term of the chemicalreaction, a carbon species composing of the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces showed strong chemical reaction of2-TNATA during the deposition of 2-TNATA on MoOx

while the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces showed the for-mation of a unreactive interfaces during the deposition ofMoOx on 2-TNATA.Figure 5(a) shows the NEXAFS spectra at the nitrogen

K-edge of the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interface with increas-ing the MoOx thickness from 0 to 10 nm on 10 nmthick 2-TNATA. The peak at 398.1 and above 403.5 eVin pristine 2-TNATA of Figure 5(a) can be assigned as�∗ resonance and many ∗, respectively.26 Interestingly,a new resonance peak of �∗ appeared at 393.5 eV after

Fig. 5. NEXAFS spectra at the N K-edge of both (a) the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces and (b) the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces. Thenanometers in the figures indicate the thicknesses of (a) MoOx and(b) 2-TNATA, respectively.

the deposition of 0.4 nm MoOx on the 2-TNATA layer.The peaks at 393.5 and 398.1 eV, which were inducedby the transition to LUMO levels consisting of �∗ unoc-cupied states, were attributed to �∗

rea (species of N atomreacted with MoOx� and �∗

unrea (species of N atom unre-acted with MoOx�, respectively. The difference for 4.6 eVin the large photon energy between �∗

rea and �∗unrea could

be caused by the changes due to the effect of an electron-accepting MoOx or an excitonic effect.25 As the depositedthickness of MoOx on the 2-TNATA layer is increased,the ratio of �∗

rec/�∗unrea rapidly increased at the MoOx/2-

TNATA interfaces. Meanwhile, such �∗rea peak is caused

by the formation of CT complexes (MoOx−/2-TNATA+�that is generated between MoOx as an electron acceptorand 2-TNATA as an electron donor.8�27 These contributeto an increase in the cationic charge carrier density inthe MoOx-on-2-TNATA film and facilitate the injection ofholes from anode to MoOx-on-2-TNATA.Figure 5(b) shows the NEXAFS spectra at the nitrogen

K-edge of the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces with increas-ing the 2-TNATA thickness from 0.05 to 5 nm on theMoOx of 10.0 nm. At the initial coverage of 0.05 nm-thick2-TNATA on the MoOx, the strong �∗

rea resonance peakat 393.1 eV was observed. Furthermore, as the 2-TNATAdeposition increased from 0.1 to 5.0 nm, although the inten-sity of a �∗

rea resonance was reduced, the feature of the�∗

rea resonance was not fully recovered compared to thatof the pristine 2-TNATA indicating the partial destructionof the conjugated backbone in the 2-TNATA moleculefor the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces. Therefore, thechemical reaction at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces

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Study of the Electronic Structure of the Interfaces Between 2-TNATA and MoOx Lim et al.

appeared to be stronger than that at the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaces.With regards to the electronic features, the electri-

cal properties of the hole-only device, which is com-posed of a glass/ITO/MoOx/2-TNATA/MoOx/Al structure,were investigated. This hole-only device contains not onlythe 2-TNATA-MoOx interface but also the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interface. The thickness of bottom MoOx in the2-TNATA-on-MoOx interface was fixed to 5.0 nm for theformation of an ohmic contact as revealed in the UPSresults of Figure 2 and the thickness of top MoOx waschanged in the MoOx-on-2-TNTA layer. Figure 6 showsthe J–V characteristics of the hole-only device, which hasa glass/ITO/MoOx (5.0 nm)/2-TNATA (15.0 nm)/MoOx

(x nm, x = 0�1, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 nm)/Al (150 nm) struc-ture. The bias voltage was applied to the bottom electrodein reference to the top grounding electrode. In Figure 6, thehole-only device was improved as top MoOx was increasedfrom 0.1 to 3.0 nm at the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interfaceand showed the non-linear curves. Meanwhile, the devicewith MoOx of 0.5 nm-thick on the MoOx-on-2-TNATAinterface exhibited perfectly linear J–V characteristics thatwere characteristic of a true ohmic contact at both the topMoOx-on-2-TNATA interface and the bottom 2-TNATA-MoOx interface.Figure 7 shows the proposed energy band diagrams for

the �hB at the bottom (a) and top (b) interfaces in the hole-

only devices. The figure on the left side in Figure 7(a)indicates that the �h

B is 0.4 eV when a hole is injected fromITO (WF= 4�7 eV) to 2-TNATA (IP= 5�1 eV). However,the bottom interface which MoOx was inserted betweenITO and 2-TNATA, did not observe any barrier for the

Fig. 6. Current density–voltage characteristics of the hole-only devices,which have a glass/ITO/MoOx (5.0 nm)/2-TNATA (10.0 nm)/MoOx

(x nm)/Al (150 nm) structure. Here, x is 0.1, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0, respec-tively. The bias voltage was applied to the bottom electrode in referenceto the top grounding electrode.

Fig. 7. Proposed energy band diagrams for the �hB at the bottom (a) and

top (b) interfaces in the hole-only devices. The bottom interface is the2-TNATA-on-MoOx one and the top interface is the MoOx-on-2-TNATAone.

hole injection as shown in the figure on the right-side ofFigure 7(a), regardless of the thickness of MoOx. Also,the top interfaces of the hole-only device which was theMoOx-on-2-TNATA ones did not include any �h

B when ahole is injected from 2-TNATA (or MoOx-on-2-TNATA)to cathode of Al, irrelevant to the thickness of MoOx. Thisindicates that the hole-injecting properties of the top inter-faces more strongly depend on the concentration of CTcomplexes as well as the �h

B as shown in Figures 1 and5(b). Moreover, the hole-ohmic property of the HIL layerwithout the interface resistance at an optimized conditionwas expected to play a critical role in the operation of adiode-type device such as both a conventional and invertedOLEDs.

4. CONCLUSION

The interfaces of MoOx-on-2-TNATA and 2-TNATA-on-MoOx showed an asymmetric behaviour, which was dif-ferent in the electrical structures of WF, �h

B, HOMOlevel, etc. due to the differences in the interfacial chemicalreaction and an interdiffusion of MoOx into the 2-TNATAfilms. The energy level studies by UPS showed that,as the MoOx thickness increased at the MoOx-on-2-TNATA interface, the �h

B of the MoOx-on-2-TNATA inter-faces were reduced while, at the 2-TNATA-on-MoOx

interface, an insignificant �hB as well as zero varia-

tion regarding �hB was observed for all thicknesses of

2-TNATA used in this study by the formation of MIGSs.NEXAFS spectra showed that the MoOx-on-2-TNATAinterfaces were much more stable formation of chargetransfer complex than 2-TNATA-on-MoOx interfaces ataround EF . On the base of these interfaces, a hole-onlydevice composed of a glass/ITO/MoOx (5.0 nm)/2-TNATA(15.0 nm)/MoOx (5.0 nm)Al (150.0 nm) structure was fab-ricated and the device showed a hole ohmic property.

Acknowledgments: This work was partially supportedby the World Class University program of the National

8030 J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 13, 8025–8031, 2013

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RESEARCH

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Lim et al. Study of the Electronic Structure of the Interfaces Between 2-TNATA and MoOx

Research Foundation of Korea (Grant No. R32-10124),by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grantfunded by the Korean Government (MEST) (NRF-2010-M1AWA001-2010-0026248), and by the Ministryof Knowledge Economy (MKE) and Korea Institutefor Advancement of Technology (KIAT) through theWorkforce Development Program in Strategic Technology.This work was also supported by the Pohang AcceleratorLaboratory in Korea.

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Received: 8 May 2012. Accepted: 30 March 2013.

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