Electrophysical and Photoelectric Properties of Poly-3-Hexylthiophene Modified with Silicon Nanoparticles

This work is devoted to the determination of the mechanisms of generation, transfer, and recombination of charge carriers in a hybrid organic–inorganic system—a polymer poly-3-hexylthiophene with silicon nanoparticles (nc-Si). It is shown that by varying the nc-Si concentration, it is possible to change the conductivity and photoconductivity of such a system within a fairly wide range, achieving optimal values for applications in optoelectronics (photodetectors, solar cells, etc.). A model is proposed making it possible to describe the photoelectric properties of poly-3-hexylthiophene modified with nc-Si from a single point of view. The model assumes a Gaussian distribution of the density of electronic states along which the hopping transport of charge carriers occurs. The influence of nc-Si mainly affects the parameters of the Gaussian distribution of the density of electronic states and the position of the Fermi level.