A fast ramp rate thermally stimulated current technique to quantify electronic charge dynamics in thin films

Thermally stimulated current (TSC) techniques have been applied to study thermally activated events in many materials. However, the temperature ramp rates in traditional TSC are typically too slow (few degrees per minute) to monitor materials whose properties are strongly time dependent. A fast ramp rate TSC (FR-TSC) technique was developed with ramp rates of 1-5 K/s. This is up to 100 times faster than traditional TSC, so that material changes can be appropriately quantified in the time scale at which they take place. In this paper, the experimental design and challenges to achieve fast and stable ramp rates and to measure the low-level currents are discussed. The fast ramps were attained using a thermoelectric cooler, controlled by a proportional-integral-derivative feedback loop, for both heating and cooling. FR-TSC measurements (1 K/s and 20-100 degrees C) on poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) ferroelectric thin films are discussed as an example material. From these measurements, thermally activated currents as well as irreversible and reversible charge dynamics were readily distinguished with multiple thermal cycles. These measurements suggest that this technique holds substantial promise in quantifying charge dynamics in fast response materials.