Band bending in conjugated polymer films: Role of morphology and implications for bulk charge transport characteristics

Abstract

The performance of power conversion devices is impacted by the energy level alignment at the interface between the conjugated polymer and conductive substrate. While band bending has been known to vary between conjugated polymers, we show that the degree of band bending within the same polymer can be just as significant with morphology change. Specifically, a significant band bending effect, studied via Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), was exhibited by poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films fabricated using matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) in contrast to the conventional spin-cast P3HT films. This finding is associated with a broadening of the density of states (DOS) in the MAPLE-deposited P3HT films, originating from the more disordered structure of the film. These findings, to the best of our knowledge, illustrate for the first time a strong connection between morphology, energy level alignment, and bulk transport in conjugated polymer films.