The electrical and structural properties of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin films deposited from aqueous dispersion using different concentrations of selected secondary dopants are studied in detail. An improvement of the electrical conductivity by three orders of magnitude is achieved for dimethyl sulfoxide, sorbitol, ethylene glycol, and N,N-dimethylformamide, and the secondary dopant concentration dependence of the conductivity exhibits almost identical behavior for all investigated secondary dopants. Detailed analysis of the surface morphology and Raman spectra reveals no presence of the secondary dopant in fabricated films, and thus the dopants are truly causing the secondary doping effect. Although the ratio of benzenoid and quinoid vibrations in Raman spectra is unaffected by doping, the phase transition in PEDOT:PSS films owing to doping is confirmed. Further analysis of temperature-dependent conductivity reveals 1D variable range hopping (VRH) charge transport for undoped PEDOT:PSS, whereas highly conductive doped PEDOT:PSS films exhibit 3D VRH charge transport. We demonstrate that the charge-hopping dimensionality change should be a fundamental reason for the conductivity enhancement.

By using the electric field induced optical second-harmonic generation (EFISHG) measurements, we probed the transient electric field in a double-layer indium zinc oxide (IZO)/N, N′-di-[(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl]-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4, 4′-diamine(α-NPD)/tris(8-hydroxy-quinolinato)aluminum(III) (Alq3)/Al electroluminescent (EL) diode. Results evidently showed that EL was initiated by the injected hole transport across α-NPD layer, and holes accumulated at the α-NPD/Alq3 interface while EL was enhanced. Analysis based on the Maxwell–Wagner effect model well accounted for the hole accumulation. EFISHG measurement is useful as a tool for probing carrier behavior in organic EL devices.

Surface plasmon resonance of gold and silver nanoparticle (NP) layers is investigated by the experiment as well as simulations. Although the good agreement was found for gold NP film, a significant mismatch in the resonance energy for silver NP film was observed. The deviation was assigned to the presence of silver oxide (Ag2O) in silver NPs. As an alternative to the NP size-dependent Drude model, the analysis based on effective medium approximation for refractive index of Ag-Ag2O material system is carried out and compared with the core-shell model. Both Mie's model and numerical simulation results illustrate shift of the surface plasmon resonance due to silver NP surface oxidation.

An in situ small-angle x-ray scattering study of the nanoparticle displacement in a self-assembled monolayer as a function of a supporting membrane strain is presented. The average nanoparticle spacing is 6.7 nm in the unstrained state and increases in the applied force direction, following linearly the membrane strain which reaches the maximum value of 11%. The experimental results suggest a continuous mutual shift of the nanoparticles and their gradual separation with the growing stress rather than nanoparticle islands formation. No measurable shift of the nanoparticles was observed in the direction perpendicular to the applied stress.

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To understand the physical meaning of threshold voltage in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), we studied the threshold voltage (shift) dependence on gate-insulator thickness as well as active-layer thickness, by using pentacene OFETs with and without a dipole interlayer between pentacene active layer and SiO2 gate insulator. Results showed that the presence of dipole monolayer caused a large threshold voltage shift and there was a linear relationship between the threshold voltage shift and the layer thickness of pentacene as well as SiO2. Assuming the pentacene film is a dielectric layer and the threshold voltage in pentacene OFET is determined from a zero-electric-field condition at the gate insulator interface, we propose a model based on compensation of the local electric field in the vicinity of semiconductor and gate insulator interface. The model well accounts for both the large negative threshold voltage shift and the linear relation. These findings reveal the importance of interfacial electric field for analyzing organic devices.

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) was analyzed as a system of the Maxwell-Wagner effect element, by using time-resolved optical second harmonic generation (SHG) measurement. A transient SHG signal generated fromlayer in an indium zinc oxide (IZO)/R-NPD/tris(8-hydroxy-quinolinato) aluminum(III) (Alq3)/ LiF/Al OLED device was selectively probed with applying alternating current (AC) square wave voltage, and the electric field distribution change in the device was examined. Results showed that charge Q s at the R-NPD/Alq3 interface changed in accordance with charging and discharging processes accompanied by electroluminescence (EL). We found that observed SHG response reflected well charging and discharging of carriers on electrodes and carrier transit across R-NPD and Alq3 layers, and accounted for nonreversal charging and discharging processes.