Metal/conjugated polymer contact

The aim of this chapter is to present a simple but general band structure picture of the metal-semiconductor interface and compare that with the characteristics of the metal-conjugated polymer interface. The discussion is focused on the polymer light emitting diode (LED) for which the metal-polymer contacts play a central role in the performance of the device. The metal-polymer interface also applies to other polymer electronic devices that have been fabricated, e.g., the thin-film field-effect transistor3, but the role of the metal-polymer interface is much less cruical in this case and... 

In chapter 7, all works discussed on model molecular systems for conjugated polymers refer to condensed molecular solid ultra-thin films, generally prepared by condensation of molecules from the effusion of a Knudsen-type cell, in UHV, on to clean metallic substrates held at low temperatures. Clean is defined as atomically clean as determined by core-electron level XPS, such that there is intimate contact between the molecules at the substrate-film interface, without the influence of, for example, a metallic oxide, hydrocarbon... 

The materials (metals and conjugated polymers) that are used in LED applications were introduced in the previous chapter. The polymer is a semiconductor with a band gap of 2-3 eV. The most commonly used polymers in LEDs today are derivatives of poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) (PPV), poly(p-phenylene) (PPP), and polythiophene (PT). These polymers are soluble and therefore relatively easy to process. The most common LED device layout is a three layer component consisting of a metallic contact, typically indium tin oxide (ITO), on a glass substrate, a polymer film r- 1000 A thick), and an evaporated metal contact4. Electric contact to an external voltage supply is made with the two metallic layers on either side of the polymer. 

Besides the classical Schottky contact, various surface mechanisms are known to influence polymer metal contacts. Band bending in metal/PPV interfaces is also discussed in terms of surface states or chemical reactions between the semiconductor and the metal [70-74]. An excellent review on conjugated polymer surfaces and interfaces is given by [129]. 

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