Poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene-vinylene] (MEH-PPV) adopts a preferential orientation on indium tin oxide. Although the basic building block of this polymer provides a negligible overall point-group symmetry, the polymer MEH-PPV packs with suffi cient order to exhibit band structure. The polymer is fragile with bond cleavage evident following both argon-ion impact and ultraviolet radiation, but annealing leads to the restoration of much of the bond order.
The positions of the molecular orbitals of the conjugated semiconducting polymer, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), relative to the Fermi level, shift when lead selenide (PbSe) quantum dots or the fullerene based molecule [(6)]-1-(3-(methoxycarbonyl)propyl)-[(5)]-1-phenyl-[5,6]-C61, known as PCBM, are dispersed in the polymer host. This is evident from the consistent shifts of occupied molecular orbitals and the valence band edge to greater binding energies and a decrease in density of states near the Fermi level, as probed by photoemission. In the case of PbSe nanocrystal quantum dots, far smaller binding energy shifts were observed. This behavior seems more characteristic of a charge donor, though PbSe and PCBM should act as charge acceptors. In the case of both dopants, what doping does exist occurs only with small concentrations (<10%). MEH-PPV doped with a large-Z semiconducting material, such as PbSe nanocrystal quantum dots, is a candidate for use as a good gamma radiation detector.
In this paper, we present research results that explore the basic molecular structure, orientation, and electrical properties of the conjugated polymer poly(2-methoxy-5- (2,9-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV). The bandgap structure of MEH-PPV was investigated through optical absorption and emission spectra, and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS). Based on the optical absorption of MEH-PPV, the π-π* bandgap energy is 2.14eV. The emission spectrum of ITO/MEH-PPV/Al light emitting diode has a peak at 590nm in wavelength which corresponds to photon energies of 2.1eV. By using ultraviolet synchrotron radiation to investigate the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) of the MEH-PPV, the relative change in photoemission cross-section for various electron states was measured. The HOMO to Fermi level gap obtained from UPS spectra is about 3eV. The UPS measurements include angle-resolved and incident energy dependent spectra. Some indication of bulk film orientation was inferred by dispersion of incident energy dependent UPS. Disparities in these spectra imply some role for defect states, extrinsic carrier involvement, or Fermi-level pinning.
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