A. Ioannidis et al., EVOLUTION IN THE CHARGE INJECTION EFFICIENCY OF EVAPORATED AU CONTACTS ON A MOLECULARLY DOPED POLYMER, Journal of applied physics, 84(3), 1998, pp. 1439-1444
Injection efficiency from evaporated Au contacts on a molecularly dope
d polymer (MDP) system has been previously observed to evolve from blo
cking to ohmic over time. In the present article this contact forming
phenomenon is analyzed in detail. The initially blocking nature of the
Au contact is in contrast with that expected from the relative workfu
nctions of Au and of the polymer which suggest Au should inject holes
efficiently. It is also in apparent contrast to a differently prepared
interface of the same materials. The phenomenon is not unique to this
interface, having been confirmed also for evaporated Ag and mechanica
lly made liquid Hg contacts on the same MDP. The MDP is a disordered s
olid state solution of electroactive triarylamine hole transporting TP
D molecules in a polycarbonate matrix. The trap-free hole-transport MD
P provides a model system for the study of metal/polymer interfaces by
enabling the use of a recently developed technique that gives a quant
itative measure of contact injection efficiency. The technique combine
s field-dependent steady state injection current measurements at a con
tact under test with time-of-flight (TOF) mobility measurements made o
n the same sample. In the present case, MDP films were prepared with t
wo top vapor-deposited contacts, one of Au (test contact) and one of A
l (for TOF), and a bottom carbon-loaded polymer electrode which is kno
wn to be ohmic for hole injection. The samples were aged at various te
mperatures below the glass transition of the MDP (85 degrees C) and th
e evolution of current versus field and capacitance versus frequency b
ehaviors are followed in detail over time and analyzed, Control measur
ements ensure that the evolution of the electrical properties is due t
o the Au/polymer interface behavior and not the bulk, All evaporated A
u contacts eventually achieved ohmic injection. The evaporated Au/MDP
interface was also investigated by transmission electron microscopy as
a function of time and showed no evidence of Au interdiffusion in the
MDP layer, remaining abrupt to within similar to 10 Angstrom over the
course of the evolution in injection efficiency. Mechanisms related t
o Au penetration into the MDP are therefore unlikely. Rapid sequence d
ata acquisition enabled the detection of two main processes in the inj
ection evolution. The evolving injection efficiency is very well fit b
y two exponentials, enabling the characterization of time and temperat
ure dependence of the evolution processes. (C) 1998 American Institute
of Physics.