Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are solid state polymer devices operating through the formation of a light-emitting p-n junction by in situ electrochemical doping. The LEC film contains a luminescent polymer and a polymer electrolyte. A sufficiently high voltage bias initiates the electrochemical p-doping reaction at the anode interface and n-doping reaction at the cathode interface. With time the doped regions expand in volume until they make contact to form a light-emitting p-n junction. In this thesis, I present my original research on both the light-emitting and photovoltaic properties of LECs. I discovered that continued doping after p- and n-doped regions have made first contact accounts for most of LEC turn-on time. I showed that because the electronic charges must be injected from an external circuit for the electrochemical doping to occur, the LEC turn-on response is limited to no faster than milliseconds. I also demonstrated that the lifetime of LECs can be affected by various factors such as stress temperature, stress current, substrate thermal conductivity, and luminescent polymer end group. With the right combination of substrates and materials, LECs exhibit a remarkable half lifetime on the order of hundreds of hours when stressed at a current density of 1A/cm2. I also observed that an as-formed p-n junction can even relax into a p-i-n junction upon the removal of applied voltage bias. A p-i-n junction LEC exhibits more efficient electroluminescence due to less photoluminescence quenching in the quasi-intrinsic emission zone. Frozen p-i-n junction LECs also exhibit a much improved photovoltaic response. By carefully controlling the relaxation (dedoping) temperature and duration, I have demonstrated p-i-n junction photovoltaic cells with record-high open-circuit voltage of 2.25V and short-circuit current density in excess of 10mA/cm2 under simulated sunlight of ~300mW/cm2. By optimizing film thickness and electrolyte content, I have achieved a thirty-fold increase in power conversion efficiency of p-i-n junction photovoltaic cells. My results demonstrate that a polymer homojunction such a p-n or a p-i-n junction is a promising device concept that has potential application in high performance polymer-based photonic devices. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2009-05-25 13:06:45.646

Classical semiconductor physics has been continuously improving electronic components such as diodes, light-emitting diodes, solar cells and transistors based on highly purified inorganic crystals over the past decades. Organic semiconductors, notably polymeric, are a comparatively young field of research, the first light-emitting diode based on conjugated polymers having been demonstrated in 1990. Polymeric semiconductors are of tremendous interest for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing ("printed electronics"). Due to their rather simple device structure mostly comprising only one or two functional layers, polymeric diodes are much more difficult to optimize compared to small-molecular organic devices. Usually, functions such as charge injection and transport are handled by the same material which thus needs to be highly optimized. The present work contributes to expanding the knowledge on the physical mechanisms determining device performance by analyzing the role of charge injection and transport on device efficiency for blue and white-emitting devices, based on commercially relevant spiro-linked polyfluorene derivatives. It is shown that such polymers can act as very efficient electron conductors and that interface effects such as charge trapping play the key role in determining the overall device efficiency. This work contributes to the knowledge of how charges drift through the polymer layer to finally find neutral emissive trap states and thus allows a quantitative prediction of the emission color of multichromophoric systems, compatible with the observed color shifts upon driving voltage and temperature variation as well as with electrical conditioning effects. In a more methodically oriented part, it is demonstrated that the transient device emission observed upon terminating the driving voltage can be used to monitor the decay of geminately-bound species as well as to determine trapped charge densities. This enables direct comparisons with numerical simulations based on the known properties of charge injection, transport and recombination. The method of charge extraction under linear increasing voltages (CELIV) is investigated in some detail, correcting for errors in the published approach and highlighting the role of non-idealized conditions typically present in experiments. An improved method is suggested to determine the field dependence of charge mobility in a more accurate way. Finally, it is shown that the neglect of charge recombination has led to a misunderstanding of experimental results in terms of a time-dependent mobility relaxation. / Klassische Halbleiterphysik beschäftigt sich bereits seit mehreren Jahrzehnten erfolgreich mit der Weiterentwicklung elektronischer Bauteile wie Dioden, Leuchtdioden, Solarzellen und Transistoren auf der Basis von hochreinen anorganischen Kristallstrukturen. Im Gegensatz hierzu ist das Forschungsgebiet der organischen, insbesondere der polymeren Halbleiter noch recht jung: Die erste Leuchtdiode auf der Basis von "leitfähigem Plastik" wurde erst 1990 demonstriert. Polymere Halbleiter sind hierbei von besonderem Interesse für hochvolumige Anwendungen im Beleuchtungsbereich, da sie sich kostengünstig herstellen und verarbeiten lassen ("gedruckte Elektronik"). Die vereinfachte Herstellung bedingt dabei eine vergleichsweise geringe Komplexität der Bauteilstruktur und verringert die Optimierungsmöglichkeiten. Die vorliegende Arbeit leistet einen Beitrag zum Verständnis der Vorgänge an Grenzflächen und im Volumen von polymeren Leuchtdioden und ermöglicht damit ein besseres Verständnis der Bauteilfunktion. Im Fokus steht hierbei mit einem spiro-verknüpften Polyfluorenderivat ein kommerziell relevanter Polymertyp, der amorphe und hochgradig temperaturstabile Halbleiterschichten bildet. Ausgehend von einer Charakterisierung der Ladungstransporteigenschaften wird im Zusammenspiel mit numerischen Simulationen der Bauteilemission gezeigt, welche Rolle die polymeren und metallenen Kontaktelektroden für die Bauteilfunktion und -effizienz spielen. Des Weiteren wird ein weiß-emittierendes Polymer untersucht, bei dem die Mischung von blauen, grünen und roten Farbstoffen die Emissionsfarbe bestimmt. Hierbei wird das komplexe Wechselspiel aus Energieübertrag zwischen den Farbstoffen und direktem Ladungseinfang aufgeklärt. Es wird ein quantitatives Modell entwickelt, das die beobachtete Verschiebung der Emissionsfarbe unter wechselnden elektrischen Betriebsparametern erklärt und zusätzlich die Vorhersage von Temperatur- und elektrischen Konditionierungseffekten ermöglicht. Ausgehend von leicht messbaren Parametern wie Stromstärken und Emissionsspektren ermöglicht es Rückschlüsse auf mikroskopische Vorgänge wie die Diffusion von Ladungen hin zu Farbstoffen. Es wird gezeigt, dass im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Erkenntnissen der Ladungseinfang durch Drift im elektrischen Feld gegenüber der Diffusion überwiegt. In einem eher methodisch orientierten Teil zeigt die Arbeit, wie die beim Abschalten von Leuchtdioden beobachtbare Emission dazu verwendet werden kann, Erkenntnisse zu Ladungsdichten während der Betriebsphase zu gewinnen. Es wird abschließend nachgewiesen, dass eine gängige Methode zur Bestimmung von Ladungsbeweglichkeiten unter typischen Messbedingungen fehlerbehaftet ist. Ergebnisse, die bisher als eine zeitliche Relaxation der Beweglichkeit in ungeordneten Halbleitern interpretiert wurden, können damit auf die Rekombination von Ladungen während der Messung zurückgeführt werden. Es wird außerdem gezeigt, dass eine Modifikation der bei der Auswertung verwendeten Analytik die genauere Vermessung der Feldstärkeabhängigkeit der Beweglichkeit ermöglicht.

The polymer light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) is an alternative method for producing electroluminescence (EL) from conjugated luminescent polymers. The in situ electrochemical doping process that leads to a dynamic p-n junction makes the devices highly insensitive to device thickness and relatively insensitive to electrode materials. These characteristics make an extremely large planar configuration accessible for observing the cross-section of the device and watching it turn on dynamically. By cooling the device to freeze ionic motion, the junction can be stabilized and photovoltaic (PV) characteristics investigated. In the planar configuration, the p-n junction was found to make up a small fraction of the inter-electrode spacing. Enabled by the insensitivity to electrode materials, small metallic particles embedded in the LEC film led to a large number of p-n junctions that could be turned on in series and parallel. This alleviates the issue of low specific emitting area suffered by planar devices and leads to improved EL effciency as well as a high open circuit voltage (Voc) when operated as a PV cell. The bulk homojunction fabrication process has been optimized by segregating the metallic particles to eliminate large aggregates. A new technique to achieve highly uniform EL from large planar LECs is also presented here. By the evaporation of a thin gold or silver film on top of an LEC, independent islands form that act as doping initiation sites across the device width. A bulk homojunction is turned on in the top layer of the LEC with a high applied bias. Island diameters and spacings are several orders of magnitude smaller than the particles in previously-reported bulk homojunction devices. Both island and particle devices had their interelectrode spacings scaled down by at least a factor of 10. The successful scaling is a promising result for the possibility of a sandwich configuration bulk homojunction device. In the case of silver island devices, cooling a 50-micron wide device after turn-on resulted in a PV cell with an open circuit voltage of 8.3 V, several times the band gap of the luminescent polymer used. / Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-12 12:21:12.949

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on the design and synthesis of novel hybrid conjugated polymer materials using two different approaches: 1) inorganic/organic hybrid semiconductors through the incorporation of carboranes into the polymer structure and 2) the modification of surfaces with conjugated polymers via grafting approaches. Hybrid conjugated polymeric materials, which are materials or systems in which conjugated polymers are chemically integrated with non-traditional structures or surfaces, have the potential to harness useful properties from both components of the material to help overcome hurdles in their practical realization in polymer-based devices. This work is centered around the synthetic challenges of creating new hybrid conjugated systems and their potential for advancing the field of polymer-based electronics through both greater understanding of the behavior of hybrid systems, and access to improved performance and new applications. Chapter 1 highlights the potential applications and advantages for these hybrid systems, and provides some historical perspective, along with relevant background materials, to illustrate the rationale behind this work. >Chapter 2 explores the synthesis of poly(fluorene)s with pendant carborane cages. The Ni(0) dehalogenative polymerization of a dibromofluorene with pendant carborane cages tethered to the bridging 9-position produced hybrid polymers produced polymers which combined the useful emissive characteristics of poly(fluorene) with the thermal and chemical stability of carborane cages. The materials were found to display increased glass transition temperatures and showed improved emission color stability after annealing at high temperatures relative to the non-hybrid polymer. The design and synthesis of a poly(fluorene)-based hybrid material with carborane cages in the backbone, rather than as pendant groups, begins in chapter 3. Poly(fluorene) with p-carborane in the backbone is synthesized and characterized, and the material is found to be a high MW, soluble blue emitter which shows a higher glass transition temperature and greater stability than a non-hybrid polymer. UV absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy indicated some electronic interaction between the conjugated polymer and the cages, but they did not appear to be fully conjugated in the traditional sense. Chapter 4 describes the design, synthesis, and characterization of poly(fluorene) with o-carborane in the backbone. Profound changes in the behavior of the polymer, from its polymerization behavior to its emission characteristics, were observed and their origins are discussed. Experiments to explore the nature of the cage/polymer interactions were performed and possible applications which take advantage of the unique nature of the o-carborane hybrid polymer are explored and discussed. Hybrid conjugated polymer materials via grafting approaches to surfaces and surface modification are discussed starting in chapter 5. The synthesis of a dibromofluorene-based silane coupling agent for the surface functionalization of oxide surfaces is presented, and the surface directed Ni(0) dehalogenative polymerization of poly(dihexylfluorene) is explored. Chapter 6 focuses on the exploration of conjugated polymer/cellulose hybrid materials. Surface medication of cellulose materials with monomer-like anchor points is discussed. Grafting of the modified cellulose with conjugated polymers was explored and the grafting of three different repeat structures based on fluorene-, fluorenevinylene-, and fluoreneethynylene motifs were optimized to provide a general route to cellulose/conjugated polymer hybrid materials. Characterization and possible applications of such hybrid materials are discussed. Finally, chapter 7 is devoted to the simultaneous surface patterning and functionalization of poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) thin films using a silane infusion-based wrinkling technique. While not a conjugated polymer system, the spontaneous patterning and functionalization methods explored in this chapter produce hybrid organic/inorganic polymer thin films which have applications that range from optics, to adhesion, to polymer-based electronics, and the research compliments the other chapters. The spontaneous generation of complex patterns, of a small scale approaching 100nm feature size, over a large area with simultaneous control over surface chemistry is explored. Examples of complex, hierarchically patterned films which integrate lithographic processes such as nanoimprint lithography and electron beam lithography with spontaneous patterning via wrinkling are presented.

Self-assembled monolayers and surface-initiated polymer, or polymer brushes, have attracted attention as they form dense layers with much higher structural order than bulk or solution polymers. Another field of research which has emerged over the last two decades is the field of organic and polymer electronics. In this field molecular order and surface modification are of major influence on the device performance, hence that both self-assembled monolayers as polymer brushes have been investigated to find applications in organic electronic devices. After an introduction into the field self-assembled monolayers, polymer brushes and organic electronics, the first part of this thesis focusses on three applications of surface modification techniques for applications in devices. Alignment of the active material is crucial for high mobilities in organic electronics. Chapter 2 discusses the synthesis of a liquid crystalline surface-initiated polymer and its application to induce strong homeotropic alignment. The alignment is homogeneous over large areas and can be patterned by combining the polymerization with soft lithographic techniques. Mobilities of organic electronic materials can also be strongly influenced by dopants in the material. In field-effect transistors the positioning of the dopant is thought to be crucial, as the conductance predominantly takes place in only a small channel near the dielectric interface. In chapter 3 dopant functionalized monolayers and polymer brushes are presented which enable the localized deposition of dopants in the channel of organic transistors. It is shown that the mobility of charges and hence the device performance is affected by the introduction of this dopant layer. Polymer brushes have been suggested for the fabrication of highly ordered semiconducting polymers. In chapter 4 the use of a thiophene functionalized polymer brush is shown, that can be used as a template for the subsequent growth of highly conjugated surface grafted polythiophene layers. Thick polythiophene layers are obtained, that are low in roughness and show photoluminescence and polychromism upon doping. The second part (chapter 5 and 6) of this thesis presents new techniques for surface polymerizations. It is attractive to investigate reduction of reactor volume for polymer brush growth. Chapter 5 discusses a method to achieve volume reduction by back-filling the superfluous volume with beads. It is found that this influences the polymerization kinetics significantly. The combined advantages of less volume and enhanced reaction speeds enable reduction of the total amount of monomer needed by up to 90%. Chapter 6 presents a controlled way to convert initiators for atom transfer radical polymerization into initiators for nitroxide mediated polymerization. In this way mixed polymer brushes and block co-polymer brushes become accessible. This combination makes it an attractive tool to fabricate complex polymer architectures. The technologies used in this thesis show that the synthesis of polymer brushes enable the fabrication of complex architectures without the wastes normally associated with surface-initiated polymers. Combined with several functionalized polymer brushes with properties that enhance order, influence mobility or serve as template for the growth of surface attached conjugated polymers this shows the high potential for the application of surface-initiated polymers in organic electronics.