Traps and trions as origin of magnetoresistance in organic semiconductors

The large effect of a small magnetic field on the current, magnetoconductance (MC), in organic semiconductors—so-called organic magnetoresistance—has puzzled the field of organic spintronics during the last decade. Although the microscopic mechanisms regarding spin mixing are well understood by now, it is still unknown which pairs of spin carrying particles are influencing the current in such a drastic manner. Here, a model for the MC is presented based on the spin selective formation of metastable trions from triplet exciton-polaron pairs. Additionally, the magnetic-field and voltage dependence of the MC are experimentally investigated in materials showing large effects. Using a combination of analytical and numerical calculations, it is shown that the MC is perfectly described by a process in which trions are created at polaron trap sites