ELECTRONIC AND CHEMICAL-STRUCTURE OF CONJUGATED POLYMER SURFACES AND INTERFACES - IMPLICATIONS FOR POLYMER-BASED ELECTRONIC DEVICES

It is of critical importance to understand the nature of the electroni c structure of the polymer surface and the interface with other polyme rs, semiconductors and metals, in order to control the chemistry of th e interface under device fabrication and operation. Details of the ear ly stages of interface formation with metals lead to several important implications for polymer-based LED devices. Applying certain knowledg e obtained within the surface and interface studies, several optimized light-emitting devices have been fabricated.