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. 2017 Aug 17;10(8):959.
doi: 10.3390/ma10080959.

Insights on the Optical Properties of Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene):Poly(styrenesulfonate) Formulations by Optical Metrology

Argiris Laskarakis  1 , Varvara Karagkiozaki  2 , Despoina Georgiou  3 , Christoforos Gravalidis  4 , Stergios Logothetidis  5
Affiliations

Insights on the Optical Properties of Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene):Poly(styrenesulfonate) Formulations by Optical Metrology

Argiris Laskarakis et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is among the most widely used polymers that are used as printed transparent electrodes for flexible Organic Electronic (OE) devices, such as Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs). The understanding of their optical properties and the correlation of the optical properties with their electronic properties and metallic-like behavior can lead to the optimization of their functionality as transparent electrodes in multilayer OE device architectures. In this work, we study the optical properties of different PEDOT:PSS formulations by non-destructive Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE), from the infrared to the far ultraviolet spectral regions. The optical response of PEDOT:PSS includes an intense optical absorption originated from the conductive part (PEDOT) at lower photon energies, whereas the electronic transition energies of the non-conductive PSS part have been measured at higher photon energies. Based on the different PEDOT:PSS formulations, the optical investigation revealed significant information on the relative contribution of conductive PEDOT and insulating PSS parts of the PEDOT:PSS formulation in the overall optical response, which can strongly impact the final device functionality and its optical transparency.

Keywords: Organic Electronics; Organic Photovoltaics; PEDOT:PSS; Spectroscopic Ellipsometry; optical properties; transparent electrodes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of the measured pseudodielectric function <ε~(ω)> of the different poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) formulations in the infrared (IR)-Visible- far ultraviolet (fUV) spectral region.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Surface nanotopography of a representative PEDOT:PSS film (formulation PH1000) as measured by AFM. The root mean square (rms) roughness value is measured at 4 nm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Real and (b) imaginary parts of the calculated bulk dielectric function of the different PEDOT:PSS formulations in the IR–UV spectral region.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Calculated electronic transition energies of the different PEDOT:PSS formulations.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Calculated plasma energy (ωp), and Drude broadening (ΓD) values of the different PEDOT:PSS formulations.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Calculated conductivity values by the modelling of the measured <ε˜(ω)> by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) of the different PEDOT:PSS formulations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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