Magnetoresistance in organic light-emitting diode structures under illumination

Abstract

We have investigated the effect of illumination on the organic magnetoresistance (OMR) in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) structures. The results show that it is possible to obtain OMR at voltages below "turn-on," where no OMR was visible for devices operated in the dark. The photoinduced OMR has a field dependence that is identical to that obtained for OLEDs containing very thin layers, where triplet dissociation at the cathode was a major component of the OMR. At voltages around the open circuit voltage, where the current through the device is very small, very large OMRs of ∼300% can be observed. The results support our proposed model for organic magnetoresistance as being caused in part by the interaction of free carriers with triplet excitons within the device. The results suggest that the introduction of a low field magnet could provide a simple means of improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells. © 2007 The American Physical Society.