Temperature- and field-dependent electron and hole mobilities in polymer light-emitting diodes

Abstract

We have studied the transport properties of electron- and hole-dominated MEH-PPV, poly(2-methoxy,5-(2′-ethyl-hexoxy)-p-phenylene vinylene), devices in the trap-free limit and have derived the temperature-dependent electron and hole mobilities (μ=μ0eγ√E) from the space-charge-limited behavior at high electric fields. Both the zero-field mobility μ0 and electric-field coefficient γ are temperature dependent with an activation energy of the hole and electron mobility of 0.38±0.02 and 0.34±0.02 eV, respectively. At 300 K, we find a zero-field mobility μ0 on the order of 1±0.5×10−7 cm2/V s and an electric-field coefficient γ of 4.8±0.3×10−4 (m/V)1/2 for holes. For electrons, we find a μ0 an order of magnitude below that for holes but a larger γ of 7.8±0.5×10−4 (m/V)1/2. Due to the stronger field dependence of the electron mobility, the electron and hole mobilities are comparable at working voltages in the trap-free limit, applicable to thin films of MEH-PPV.