Charge transport and microstructure in PFO:MEH-PPV polymer blend thin films

Abstract Current density–voltage characteristics of poly(9,9′-dihexyl fluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFO) thin films (∼120 nm) have been studied in hole only device configuration at different temperatures (100–290 K) in pure form and with blending (∼0.25–50 wt%) of poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV). It has been found that in the case of pure PFO the charge transport at low fields show an ohmic region which is followed by space charge limited conduction region. Blending of PFO with MEH-PPV at low ratio (up to 2 wt%) increases the current density. As the ratio is increased further, the current density decreases. Analysis show that there is a change in conduction mechanism up to 6 V from SCLC to thermally activated ohmic conduction upon blending indicating the creation of new energy level near the transport states of PFO. Morphology of the polymer blended thin films was obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique. It has been found that the surface roughness of the investigated films is significantly increased upon blending indicating aggregation as well as phase separation at high blending ratios. The decrease in conductivity at high blending ratio can be related to the change in morphology of the films.