Development of n-Type Small-Molecule Acceptors for Low Dark Current Density and Fast Response Organic Photodetectors

Suppressing the dark current density (J(d)) while maintaining sufficient charge transport is important for improving the specific detectivity (D*) and dynamic characteristics of organic photodetectors (OPDs). In this study, we synthesized three novel small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) densely surrounded by insulating alkyl side chains to minimize the J(d) in OPDs. Introducing trialkylated N-annulated perylene diimide as a terminal moiety to the alkylated pi-conjugated core structure was highly efficient in suppressing J(d) in the devices, resulting in an extremely low J(d) of 4.60 x 10(-11) A cm(-2) and 10-100 times improved D* values in the devices. In addition, SMAs with a geometrically aligned backbone structure exhibited better intermolecular ordering in the blended films, resulting in 3-10 times as high responsivity (R) values in the OPDs. Outstanding OPD performances with a D* of 8.09 x 10(12) Jones, -3 dB cutoff frequency of 205.2 kHz, and rising response time of 16 mu s were achieved under a 530 nm illumination in photoconductive mode. Geometrically aligned core-terminal SMAs densely surrounded by insulating alkyl side chains are promising for improving the static and dynamic properties of OPDs.