Reduced Charge Transfer Exciton Recombination in Organic Semiconductor Heterojunctions by Molecular Doping

We investigate the effect of molecular doping on the recombination of electrons and holes localized at conjugated-polymer–fullerene interfaces. We demonstrate that a low concentration of p-type dopant molecules (<4% weight) reduces the interfacial recombination via charge transfer excitons and results in a favored formation of separated carriers. This is observed by the ultrafast quenching of photoluminescence from charge transfer excitons and the increase in photoinduced polaron density by ∼70%. The results are consistent with a reduced formation of emissive charge transfer excitons, induced by state filling of tail states.