P3HT:PCBM blend films phase diagram on the base of variable-temperature spectroscopic ellipsometry.

Barbara Hajduk,Bożena Jarząbek,Henryk Bednarski,Henryk Janeczek,Paweł Nitschke

doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.102

Abstract

In this work we present an in-depth study of the how the composition of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend films influences their phase transitions using variable-temperature spectroscopic ellipsometry. We demonstrate that this non-destructive method is a very sensitive optical technique to investigate the phase transitions and to determine the glass transition temperatures and melting crystallization points of the P3HT:PCBM blend films. By analyzing the influence of the temperature T on the raw ellipsometric data, we have identified a high sensitivity of the ellipsometric angle Δ at a wavelength of 280 nm to temperature changes. Characteristic temperatures determined from the slope changes of the Δ(T) plot appeared to be very good guess values for the phase transition temperatures.

Highlights

The organic semiconductor poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) are extensively studied organic materials because of their important practical applications in organic electronics, especially in organic photovoltaic devices (OPV devices) [1,2,3]
We present an in-depth study of the influence of the composition of P3HT:PCBM blend films on their phase transitions using variable-temperature spectroscopic ellipsometry
In this work we have presented an in-depth study of the influence of the composition of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend films on their phase transitions using variable-temperature spectroscopic ellipsometry

Summary

Introduction

The organic semiconductor poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) are extensively studied organic materials because of their important practical applications in organic electronics, especially in organic photovoltaic devices (OPV devices) [1,2,3]. We present an in-depth study of the influence of the composition of P3HT:PCBM blend films on their phase transitions using variable-temperature spectroscopic ellipsometry. We demonstrate that this non-destructive method is a very sensitive optical technique to investigate the phase transitions and to determine the glass temperatures and melting crystallization points for the P3HT:PCBM blend films.

Results

Conclusion