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Importance of intramolecular electron spin relaxation in small molecule semiconductors

L. Schulz, M. Willis, L. Nuccio, P. Shusharov, S. Fratini, F. L. Pratt, W. P. Gillin, T. Kreouzis, M. Heeney, N. Stingelin, C. A. Stafford, D. J. Beesley, C. Bernhard, J. E. Anthony, I. McKenzie, J. S. Lord, and A. J. Drew
Phys. Rev. B 84, 085209 – Published 26 August 2011

Abstract

Electron spin relaxation rate (eSR) is investigated on several organic semiconductors of different morphologies and molecular structures, using avoided level crossing muon spectroscopy as a local spin probe. We find that two functionalized acenes (polycrystalline tri(isopropyl)silyl-pentacene and amorphous 5,6,11,12-tetraphenyltetracene) exhibit eSRs with an Arrhenius-like temperature dependence, each with two characteristic energy scales similar to those expected from vibrations. Polycrystalline tris(8-hydroxyquinolate)gallium shows a similar behavior. The observed eSR for these molecules is no greater than 0.85 MHz at 300 K. The variety of crystal structures and transport regimes that these molecules possess, as well as the local nature of the probe, strongly suggest an intramolecular phenomenon general to many organic semiconductors, in contrast to the commonly assumed spin relaxation models based on intermolecular charge-carrier transport.

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  • Received 13 April 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.085209

©2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

L. Schulz1, M. Willis2, L. Nuccio2, P. Shusharov2, S. Fratini3, F. L. Pratt4, W. P. Gillin2, T. Kreouzis2, M. Heeney5, N. Stingelin5, C. A. Stafford6, D. J. Beesley5, C. Bernhard1, J. E. Anthony7, I. McKenzie4, J. S. Lord4, and A. J. Drew1,2

  • 1Department of Physics and Fribourg Center of Nanomaterials, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
  • 2Queen Mary University of London, Department of Physics, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom
  • 3Institut Néel CNRS, F-38042 Grenoble, France
  • 4ISIS Muon Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
  • 5Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 6Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
  • 7Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA

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Issue

Vol. 84, Iss. 8 — 15 August 2011

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