Single conjugated polymer nanoparticle capacitors

The hole injection from a carbazole derivative hole transport layer into nanoparticles (r = 25 ± 15 nm) of the conjugated polymer MEH-PPV was investigated by an indirect single-particle fluorescence-quenching technique. The results suggest that there is a kinetic barrier for hole injection that prevents polymer particles from being charged in the dark. This barrier can be overcome with the assistance of optical excitation of the MEH-PPV nanoparticles, achieving a thermodynamic population of injected holes at positive bias. The amount of injected holes at equilibrium is observed to depend upon the bias in a manner highly consistent with device simulations based on a continuum model. Overall, the results demonstrate that the hole injection into nano domains of conjugated polymers is a complex process depending upon molecular interfacial effects determined by device geometry and electrostatic interactions.