TY - JOUR
T1 - Local charge trapping in conjugated polymers resolved by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy
AU - Hallam, Toby
AU - Lee, Mijung
AU - Zhao, Ni
AU - Nandhakumar, Iris
AU - Kemerink, Martijn
AU - Heeney, Martin
AU - McCulloch, Iain
AU - Sirringhaus, Henning
PY - 2009/12/17
Y1 - 2009/12/17
N2 - The microstructure of conjugated polymers is heterogeneous on the length scale of individual polymer chains, but little is known about how this affects their electronic properties. Here we use scanning Kelvin probe microscopy with resolution-enhancing carbon nanotube tips to study charge transport on a 100 nm scale in a chain-extended, semicrystalline conjugated polymer. We show that the disordered grain boundaries between crystalline domains constitute preferential charge trapping sites and lead to variations on a 100 nm scale of the carrier concentration under accumulation conditions.
AB - The microstructure of conjugated polymers is heterogeneous on the length scale of individual polymer chains, but little is known about how this affects their electronic properties. Here we use scanning Kelvin probe microscopy with resolution-enhancing carbon nanotube tips to study charge transport on a 100 nm scale in a chain-extended, semicrystalline conjugated polymer. We show that the disordered grain boundaries between crystalline domains constitute preferential charge trapping sites and lead to variations on a 100 nm scale of the carrier concentration under accumulation conditions.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.256803
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.256803
M3 - Article
C2 - 20366274
AN - SCOPUS:72449200203
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 103
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
IS - 25
M1 - 256803
ER -