The vapor deposition of metal films onto the surfaces of semiconducting, p-conjugated polymers plays an important role in the fabrication of organic electronic, optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.  Nevertheless, the strength and structural details of metal�polymer bonding at these interfaces has been practically unknown.  We report here the first reliable measurements of metal adsorption energies on polymer surfaces.  This was accomplished using an adsorption microcalorimeter which is unique in the world. We have applied it to study the adsorption of Ca on several semiconducting, p-conjugated polymers (derivatives of poly-(phenylene-vinylene), polyfluorene, and polythiophene).  By simultaneously measuring the heat of adsorption and the sticking probability of the metal atoms as a detailed function of metal coverage, we obtain the first interfacial bonding energies for metals on polymers. We also clarify the structural details of the interface and the morphology of the evolving metal film using high-resolution XPS low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy.

Energetics and structure of metal/semiconducting polymer interfaces

240th National Meeting (2010)

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