Efficient light emission from inorganic/organic semiconductor hybrid structures by energy level tuning

The fundamental limits of inorganic semiconductors for innovative light emitting and data processing applications might be overcome by combining them with organic semiconductors, which feature fast frequency response and wide color range tunability. Technologically relevant methods to optimize such hybrid heterostructure energy levels by introducing a molecular interlayer are discussed. These adjust the inorganic semiconductor work function, which leads to a proper re-alignment of the organic semiconductor levels. In turn, this directly affects the heterostructure functionality. For ZnO and a tailored ladder-type oligophenylene the heterostructure radiative emission yield could be increased sevenfold.