Collaborative Research: Characterization of the Microstructure and Charge Transport at Interfaces of Semiconducting Polymers

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ARRA STATEMENT:This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This collaborative project aims to study the detailed interfacial structure of semiconducting and dielectric polymers. The influence of interfacial interactions on the molecular ordering and the electrical properties of rigid-rod semiconducting polymers is poorly understood. The proposed experiments will attempt to disaggregate, for the first time, the impact of molecular organization, dipolar interactions, and roughness on charge transport at interfaces of semiconducting polymers. The tasks to achieve this goal include: (1) controlled fabrication of interfaces of semiconducting and dielectric polymers, (2) characterization of the microstructure at their interface, and (3) electrical characterization to determine the electronic structure at the interface. Advanced synchrotron x-ray scattering methods, such as soft x-ray scattering, will be used to interrogate the structure at polymer-polymer interfaces. Detailed temperature dependent electrical measurements on thin film transistors will be used to examine the electronic density of states in the semiconducting polymer. The successful outcome of this effort will be an understanding of how molecular interactions at interfaces affect the transport of carriers in semiconducting polymers. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Semiconducting polymers are important materials for low-cost flexible electronics such as displays, distributed sensors, and solar cells. The detailed understanding of these materials gained through this research will be important for their future commercialization. The proposed collaborative research is highly multidisciplinary and will train students in a combination of materials science, chemistry, and electronics. Graduate students and the principal investigators will mentor summer high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented minorities allowing them to gain exposure to advanced research at large-scale synchrotron research facilities. The potential of organic electronics technology for society will be disseminated through demonstrations at local science night programs. This project will also aid in the development of a new integrated lecture course sequence on organic electronic materials at UCSB. International collaboration will be fostered through collaboration with researchers in the U.K.