Generating a Photocurrent on the Nanometer Scale

摘要

Scientists have devised a nanometer-scale analog of the bulk photoconductors used in copiers and laser printers. Photocopiers and laser printers play an important role in our day-to-day life, but we rarely pay attention to how these devices work. They rely on photoconductors, which are insulators in the dark but become conductive under light illumination. About three decades ago, environmentally more benign organic photoconductors replaced the toxic inorganic selenium alloy. The photoconductors in use today are bilayer systems consisting of a charge-generating layer and a charge-transporting layer.