Flexible Organic Phototransistor Array with Enhanced Responsivity via Metal–Ligand Charge Transfer

Phototransistors based on organic photoactive materials combine tunable light absorption in the spectral region from ultraviolet to near-infrared with low-temperature processability over large areas on flexible substrates. However, they often exhibit low photoresponsivity because of low molar extinction coefficient of photoactive components. We report a simple, yet highly efficient solution method for enhancing the performance of organic phototransistors using ruthenium complex 1 (Ru-complex 1). An air-stable n-type organic semiconductor, N,N'-bis(2-phenylethyl)-perylene-3,4:9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (BPE-PTCDI), has been deposited on a silicon wafer and a transparent polyimide (PI) substrate via thermal evaporation under vacuum. The BPE-PTCDI phototransistors functionalized with Ru-complex 1 exhibit ∼5000 times higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) than that of pristine BPE-PTCDI …