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How single conjugated polymer molecules respond to electric fields.

Florian Schindler1, John M Lupton, Josef Müller

  • 1Photonics and Optoelectronics Group, Physics Department and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Amalienstrasse 54, 80799 Munich, Germany.

Nature Materials
|January 10, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Conjugated polymers exhibit spatial charge symmetry breaking under electric fields, leading to tuneable emission. This phenomenon offers potential for nanoscale memory elements and electro-optic modulators.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Organic Electronics
  • Solid-State Physics

Background:

  • Conjugated polymers are crucial semiconductors in electronic devices like LEDs, FETs, and solar cells.
  • Their electronic response to electric fields is generally explained by nanoscale charge density perturbations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate a general breaking of spatial charge symmetry in conjugated polymers.
  • To investigate the linear Stark effect on single chromophores within individual polymer chains.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzing the linear Stark effect in the emission spectra of single chromophores on individual conjugated polymer chains.
  • Measuring spectral shifts and intensity modulations induced by applied electric fields.

Main Results:

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  • Observed spectral shifts of several nanometers due to effective dipoles exceeding 10 Debye.
  • Demonstrated field-induced intensity modulations (quenching) in some molecules.
  • Showcased hysteresis in the Stark shift, indicating potential for memory applications.

Conclusions:

  • Spatial charge symmetry breaking is a general phenomenon in conjugated polymers, linked to polaron-pair or charge-transfer-state formation.
  • This effect provides a microscopic understanding of doping and exciton dissociation in devices.
  • Tuneable emission and hysteresis offer pathways for developing single-photon electro-optic modulators and nanoscale memory elements.