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Mechanical Properties of Organic Electronic Polymers on the Nanoscale

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Panchal, V 
Dobryden, I 
Hangen, UD 
Simatos, D 
Spalek, LJ 

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pOrganic semiconducting polymers have attractive electronic, optical, and mechanical properties that make them materials of choice for large area flexible electronic devices. In these devices, the electronically active polymer components are micrometers in size, and sport negligible performance degradation upon bending the centimeter‐scale flexible substrate onto which they are integrated. A closer look at the mechanical properties of the polymers, on the grain‐scale and smaller, is not necessary in large area electronic applications. In emerging micromechanical and electromechanical applications where the organic polymer elements are flexed on length scales spanning their own micron‐sized active areas, it becomes important to characterize the uniformity of their mechanical properties on the nanoscale. In this work, the authors use two precision nanomechanical characterization techniques, namely, atomic force microscope based PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping (PF‐QNM) and nanoindentation‐based dynamical mechanical analysis (nano‐DMA), to compare the modulus and the viscoelastic properties of organic polymers used routinely in organic electronics. They quantitatively demonstrate that the semiconducting near‐amorphous organic polymer indacenodithiophene‐co‐benzothiadiazole (C16‐IDTBT) has a higher carrier mobility, lower modulus, and greater nanoscale modulus areal uniformity compared to the semiconducting semicrystalline organic polymer poly[2,5‐bis(3‐tetradecylthiophen‐2‐yl)thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene] (C14‐PBTTT). Modulus homogeneity appears intrinsic to C16‐IDTBT but can be improved in C14‐PBTTT upon chemical doping.</jats:p>

Description

Funder: Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002661

Keywords

nanomechanics, organic electronics, organic field-effect transistors, organic semiconducting polymers, young's modulus

Journal Title

Advanced Electronic Materials

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2199-160X
2199-160X

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Royal Society (URF\R1\201590)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015889/1)