Time-of-Flight Current Shapes in Molecularly Doped Polymers: Effects of Sample Thickness and Irradiation Side and Carrier Generation Width

The time-of-flight (TOF) current transients from solution-cast, free-standing films of p -diethylaminobenzaldehyde diphenyhydrazone in bisphenol A polycarbonate (DEH:PC) have been studied using electron gun induced charge generation. Changes in the shape of the current transient, cusp formation in particular, with film thickness, electron-beam penetration depth, and the side of the sample irradiated, have been analyzed with a two-layer multiple trapping model, and indicate that the time-of-flight transients of solution-cast films can be problematic in that plateau formation does not necessarily imply nondispersive charge transport. The results are consistent with the existence of thin surface layers which are depleted of the hole transport material. The depleted layer on the surface of the film that was exposed to air during coating/drying is always thicker than it is for the surface contacting the substrate. Depletion could occur through transport material sublimation, surface physical characteristics such as porosity, inhomogeneous solvent evaporation, or some other mechanism.