Tuning the exciton diffusion coefficient of polyfluorene based semiconducting polymers

Abstract

Exciton diffusion plays an important role in functional materials used in organic optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, organic light emitting diodes, and lasers. Here we explore how exciton diffusion can be controlled in highly fluorescent blue‐emitting polyfluorene materials by changing the length and type of side chains. We find that the exciton diffusion coefficient (D) decreases from 1.2 × 10−3 cm2 s−1 to 0.2×10−3 cm2 s−1 when the side chain length is increased from 8 to 12 carbon atoms. Other changes to the side chains led to enhancement of D up to 1.6 × 10−3 cm2 s−1. Our results show that small adjustments to the molecular structure can be helpful for the future development of high‐brightness organic light emitting devices.