Electronic and chemical structure of conjugated polymer surfaces and interfaces: Implications for polymer-based electronic devices

Conjugated polymers have emerged as viable materials for numerous electronic applications in the area of molecular based electronics. Of particular importance recently is the emergence of polymer-based light-emitting devices. These devices rely intrinsically on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes for hole injection, and low work function metals for electron injection. In this context, it is of critical importance to understand the nature of the electronic structure of the polymer surface and the interface with other polymers, semiconductors and metals, in order to control the chemistry of the interface under device fabrication and operation. A mini-review of the essential features of metal-on-polymer interfaces will be presented, followed by a short report on some new results on polymer-on-ITO interfaces.