journal article·2023-09-21Open access

Review on Charge Carrier Transport in Inorganic and Organic Semiconductors

Seema Morab, Manickam Minakshi Sundaram, Almantas Pivrikas

Coatings· Volume 13· Issue 9

Abstract

Inorganic semiconductors like silicon and germanium are the foundation of modern electronic devices. However, they have certain limitations, such as high production costs, limited flexibility, and heavy weight. Additionally, the depletion of natural resources required for inorganic semiconductor production raises concerns about sustainability. Therefore, the exploration and development of organic semiconductors offer a promising solution to overcome these challenges and pave the way for a new era of electronics. New applications for electronic and optoelectronic devices have been made possible by the recent emergence of organic semiconductors. Numerous innovative results on the performance of charge transport have been discovered with the growth of organic electronics. These discoveries have opened up new possibilities for the development of organic electronic devices, such as organic solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, and organic field-effect transistors. The use of organic materials in these devices has the potential to revolutionise the electronics industry by providing low-cost, flexible, and lightweight alternatives to traditional inorganic materials. The understanding of charge carrier transport in organic semiconductors is crucial for the development of efficient organic electronic devices. This review offers a thorough overview of the charge carrier transport phenomenon in semiconductors with a focus on the underlying physical mechanisms and how it affects device performance. Additionally, the processes of carrier generation and recombination are given special attention. Furthermore, this review provides valuable insights into the fundamental principles that govern the behaviour of charge carriers in these materials, which can inform the design and optimisation of future devices.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics · Conducting polymers and applications · Semiconductor materials and interfaces

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia

Funding

Murdoch University

References (100+)

Show source-provided references
1. Laeri, F., Schüth, F., Simon, U., and Wark, M. (2006). Host-Guest-Systems Based on Nanoporous Crystals, John Wiley & Sons.
2. Smith, Z.A., and Taylor, K.D. (2008). Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources: A Reference Handbook, ABC-CLIO.10.5040/9798216007609 ↗
3. Orton, J.W. (2008). The Story of Semiconductors, Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199559107.001.0001 ↗
4. Orton, J.W. (2009). Semiconductors and the Information Revolution: Magic Crystals That Made IT Happen, Academic Press.
5. Mönch, W., and Mönch, W. (2001). Semiconductor Surfaces and Interfaces, Springer Science & Business Media.10.1007/978-3-662-04459-9 ↗
6. Sarkar, T.K., Mailloux, R., Oliner, A.A., Salazar-Palma, M., and Sengupta, D.L. (2006). History of Wireless, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/0471783021 ↗
7. Perlin, J. (1999). From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity, Earthscan.
8. Hoddeson, L., Braun, E., Teichmann, J., and Weart, S. (1992). Out of the Crystal Maze: Chapters from the History of Solid State Physics, Oxford University Press.10.1119/1.17165 ↗
9. Early history of the physics and chemistry of semiconductors-from doubts to fact in a hundred years10.1088/0143-0807/10/4/002 ↗
10. Lojek, B. (2007). History of Semiconductor Engineering, Springer.
11. Morris, P.R. (1990). A History of the World Semiconductor Industry, History of Technology, Institution of Engineering and Technology.10.1049/PBHT012E ↗
12. Subhistories of the light emitting diode10.1109/T-ED.1976.18472 ↗
13. Madelung, O., Schulz, M., and Weiss, H. (1985). Organic Semiconductors, Springer.
14. Silinsh, E.A. (1980). Organic Molecular Crystals, Springer Science & Business Media.10.1007/978-3-642-81464-8 ↗
15. Pope, M., and Swenberg, C.E. (1999). Electronic Processes in Organic Crystals and Polymers, Oxford University Press. [2nd ed.].
16. Electrical Conductivity in Doped Polyacetylene: Phys. Rev. Lett. 39 (1977) 1098 (Special Issue: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Dr. Hideki Shirakawa)
17. Borsenberger, P.M. (1993). Organic Photoreceptors For Imaging Systems, Marcel Dekker.
18. SkotheimTerje, A. (1998). Handbook of Conducting Polymers, Dekker. [2nd ed.].
19. Field-effect transistor with polythiophene thin film10.1016/0379-6779(87)90964-7 ↗
20. New semiconductor device physics in polymer diodes and transistors10.1038/335137a0 ↗
21. A field-effect transistor based on conjugated alpha-sexithienyl10.1016/0038-1098(89)90121-X ↗
22. Two-layer organic photovoltaic cell10.1063/1.96937 ↗
23. Light-emitting diodes based on conjugated polymers10.1038/347539a0 ↗
24. Organic electroluminescent diodes10.1063/1.98799 ↗
25. Industrial applications of phthalocyanines10.1002/(SICI)1099-1409(200006/07)4:4<432::AID-JPP254>3.0.CO;2-N ↗
26. Applications of phthalocyanines in organic light emitting devices10.1016/S0022-2860(99)00438-X ↗
27. Phthalocyanine-based organic thin-film transistors: A review of recent advances10.1021/acsami.5b01718 ↗
28. Semiconductor Photocatalysis—Past, Present, and Future Outlook10.1021/jz300071j ↗
29. Design, modification and application of semiconductor photocatalysts10.1016/j.jtice.2018.09.004 ↗
30. High performance thermoelectric materials: Progress and their applications10.1002/aenm.201701797 ↗
31. Flexible thermoelectric materials and devices: From materials to applications10.1016/j.mattod.2021.02.016 ↗
32. Promising and eco-friendly Cu2X-based thermoelectric materials: Progress and applications10.1002/adma.201905703 ↗
33. A review on recent developments of thermoelectric materials for room-temperature applications
34. Thermoelectric materials and applications for energy harvesting power generation10.1080/14686996.2018.1530938 ↗
35. Near Zero-threshold Voltage P-N Junction Diodes Based on Super-semiconducting Nanostructured Ag/Al Arrays10.1002/adma.202210612 ↗
36. Self-Forming p–n Junction Diode Realized with WSe2 Surface and Edge Dual Contacts10.1002/smll.202204547 ↗
37. Bipolar junction transistor exhibiting excellent output characteristics with a prompt response against the selective protein10.1002/adfm.202204781 ↗
38. Low-frequency noise in downscaled silicon transistors: Trends, theory and practice10.1016/j.physrep.2022.06.005 ↗
39. How to report and benchmark emerging field-effect transistors10.1038/s41928-022-00798-8 ↗
40. Two-dimensional field-effect transistor sensors: The road toward commercialization10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00924 ↗
41. Dual-gated single-molecule field-effect transistors beyond Moore’s law10.1038/s41467-022-28999-x ↗
42. Automatic Prediction of Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor Threshold Voltage Using Machine Learning Algorithm10.1002/aisy.202200302 ↗
43. Perovskite light-emitting diodes10.1038/s41928-022-00745-7 ↗
44. Evolutionary generation of phosphor materials and their progress in future applications for light-emitting diodes10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00952 ↗
45. Toward Stable and Efficient Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes10.1002/adfm.202109495 ↗
46. Mid-infrared hyperchaos of interband cascade lasers10.1038/s41377-021-00697-1 ↗
47. Recent advance of emerging low-dimensional materials for vector soliton generation in fiber lasers10.1016/j.mtphys.2022.100622 ↗
48. Comparing ultrastable lasers at 7 × 10−17 fractional frequency instability through a 2220 km optical fibre network10.1038/s41467-021-27884-3 ↗
49. All-perovskite tandem solar cells with improved grain surface passivation10.1038/s41586-021-04372-8 ↗
50. Semitransparent organic solar cells with efficiency surpassing 15%10.1002/aenm.202200453 ↗
51. Inactive (PbI2) 2RbCl stabilizes perovskite films for efficient solar cells10.1126/science.abp8873 ↗
52. Application of nanostructured TiO2 in UV photodetectors: A review10.1002/adma.202109083 ↗
53. Infrared photodetectors based on 2D materials and nanophotonics10.1002/adfm.202111970 ↗
54. Graphene charge-injection photodetectors10.1038/s41928-022-00755-5 ↗
55. Nanoscale structure measurements for polymer-fullerene photovoltaics10.1039/c2ee02725a ↗
56. Characterizing Morphology in Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaic Systems10.1021/jz100100p ↗
57. Selberherr, S. (1984). Analysis and Simulation of Semiconductor Devices, Springer.10.1007/978-3-7091-8752-4 ↗
58. Sze, S.M., and Lee, M.K. (2012). Semiconductor Devices, Physics and Technology, Wiley. [3rd ed.].
59. Comparison between Silicon (Si) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Using MATLAB10.21272/jnep.14(4).04028 ↗
60. Progress in ultraviolet photodetectors based on II–VI group compound semiconductors10.1039/D2TC02127G ↗
61. ZnO nanostructures for optoelectronics: Material properties and device applications10.1016/j.pquantelec.2010.04.001 ↗
62. Optical properties of aluminum oxide: Determined from vacuum ultraviolet and electron energy-loss spectroscopies10.1111/j.1151-2916.1998.tb02660.x ↗
63. Storing energy in plastics: A review on conducting polymers & their role in electrochemical energy storage10.1039/C4RA15947K ↗
64. Hardness, yield strength, and dislocation velocity in elemental and compound semiconductors10.2320/matertrans.46.1979 ↗
65. Nag, B.R. (2012). Electron Transport in Compound Semiconductors, Springer Science & Business Media.
66. III-V compound semiconductors: Growth and structures10.1016/j.pcrysgrow.2016.04.019 ↗
67. Adachi, S. (2009). Properties of Semiconductor Alloys: Group-IV, III-V and II-VI Semiconductors, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9780470744383 ↗
68. Tamargo, M.C. (2002). II-VI Semiconductor Materials and Their Applications, CRC Press.
69. Unified theory of direct or indirect band-gap nature of conventional semiconductors10.1103/PhysRevB.98.245203 ↗
70. Isotope and temperature shifts of direct and indirect band gaps in diamond-type semiconductors10.1103/PhysRevB.45.3376 ↗
71. Pelant, I., and Kŭsová, K. (2019). Towards a germanium and silicon laser: The history and the present. Crystals, 9.10.3390/cryst9120624 ↗
72. Elucidating charge separation in particulate photocatalysts using nearly intrinsic semiconductors with small asymmetric band bending10.1039/C9SE00036D ↗
73. Theory of solitary waves and spontaneous current instabilities in dc voltage biased extrinsic semiconductors10.1016/0167-2789(92)90196-T ↗
74. Direct current triboelectric cell by sliding an n-type semiconductor on a p-type semiconductor10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.104185 ↗
75. Ostroverkhova, O. (2013). Handbook of Organic Materials for Optical and (Opto) Electronic Devices: Properties and Applications, Elsevier.10.1533/9780857098764 ↗
76. Local order in amorphous organic molecular thin films10.1016/S0009-2614(01)01063-6 ↗
77. Silinsh, E.A. (2012). Organic Molecular Crystals: Their Electronic States, Springer Science & Business Media.
78. Modular and predictable assembly of porous organic molecular crystals10.1038/nature10125 ↗
79. Switching in organic polymer films10.1063/1.1655065 ↗
80. Porous organic polymer films with tunable work functions and selective hole and electron flows for energy conversions10.1002/anie.201510723 ↗
81. Doping approaches for organic semiconductors10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00581 ↗
82. Recent advances in n-type and ambipolar organic semiconductors and their multi-functional applications10.1039/D2CS00720G ↗
83. Sterically-Hindered Molecular p-Dopants Promote Integer Charge Transfer in Organic Semiconductors10.1002/anie.202304964 ↗
84. 18.9% Efficient Organic Solar Cells Based on n-Doped Bulk-Heterojunction and Halogen-Substituted Self-Assembled Monolayers as Hole Extracting Interlayers10.1002/aenm.202202503 ↗
85. A 19% efficient and stable organic photovoltaic device enabled by a guest nonfullerene acceptor with fibril-like morphology10.1039/D2EE03483B ↗
86. Optically Excited MOS-Capacitor for Recombination Lifetime Measurement10.1109/LED.2014.2345058 ↗
87. Improving light absorption in organic solar cells by plasmonic contribution10.1016/j.solmat.2009.02.028 ↗
88. Photocurrent in a visible-light graphene photodiode10.1103/PhysRevB.83.033402 ↗
89. Great light absorption enhancement in a graphene photodetector integrated with a metamaterial perfect absorber10.1039/c3nr03505k ↗
90. Colthup, N. (2012). Introduction to Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy, Elsevier.
91. Spontaneous radiative recombination in semiconductors10.1103/PhysRev.105.139 ↗
92. Temperature dependence of the radiative recombination coefficient in silicon10.1002/pssa.2210210140 ↗
93. Statistics of the Recombinations of Holes and Electrons10.1103/PhysRev.87.835 ↗
94. Electron-Hole Recombination in Germanium10.1103/PhysRev.87.387 ↗
95. Sur les rayons β secondaires produits dans un gaz par des rayons X
96. Surface recombination in semiconductors10.1016/0039-6028(68)90182-9 ↗
97. Role of the charge-transfer state in reduced Langevin recombination in organic solar cells: A theoretical study10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b08936 ↗
98. Recombination Kinetics in Organic-Inorganic Perovskites: Excitons, Free Charge, and Subgap States10.1103/PhysRevApplied.2.034007 ↗
99. Germanium rectifier characteristics
100. Nelson, J. (2003). The Physics of Solar Cells, Imperial College Press.10.1142/p276 ↗