High conductivity organic thin films for spintronics: the interface resistance bottleneck

Abstract

Highly electrochemically doped poly(2,5-bis(3-dodecyl-2-yl)-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (pBTTT) thin films exhibiting remarkably high conductivities values reaching 3000–5000 Ω−1 cm−1 are investigated. Experimental evidence of delocalized transport properties of this material at the onset of metallicity makes it an ideal candidate for spin valve device integration. Nevertheless, the interface resistance between the polymer and metallic electrodes is orders of magnitudes larger than the expected spin resistance of the active channel. This prevents the collection of a spin current. This finding can explain the lack of success in making lateral organic spin valves reported in the literature, especially the related absence of spin signals in non-local spin valve and Hanle current measurements in organic thin films.