Fluorescence and electroluminescence of J-aggregated polythiophene monolayers on hexagonal boron nitride
Description
The photophysics of a semiconducting polymer is manipulated through molecular self-assembly on an insulating surface. Adsorption of polythiophene (PT) monolayers on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) leads to a structurally-induced planarization and a re-balancing of inter- and intra-chain excitonic coupling. This conformational control results in a dominant 0-0 photoluminescence peak and a reduced Huang-Rhys factor, characteristic of J-type aggregates, and optical properties which are significantly different to both PT thin films and single polymer strands. Adsorption on hBN also provides a route to explore electroluminescence from PT monolayers though incorporation into hybrid van der Waals heterostructures whereby the polymer monolayer is embedded within a hBN tunnel diode. In these structures we observe up-converted singlet electroluminescence from the PT monolayer, with an excitation mechanism based upon inelastic electron scattering. We argue that surface adsorption provides a methodology for the study of fundamental optoelectronic properties of technologically-relevant polymers.
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Subjects
- Photoluminescence
- Electroluminescence
- Boron nitride
- Organic electronics
- Molecular electronics
- self-assembly, photoluminescence, electroluminescence, semiconducting polymer, organic electronics, molecular electronics, photophysics.
- Physical sciences::Physics
- Q Science::QC Physics
Divisions
- University of Nottingham, UK Campus
- Other
Research institutes and centres
- University of Nottingham, UK Campus
Deposit date
2020-09-15Data type
Raw data files: AFM images (.ibw), photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra (.ls6 and .txt), current vs. voltage measurement files (.txt), optical microscopy images (.jpg)Contributors
- Svatek, Simon A.
- Antolín, Elisa
- Taniguchi, Takashi
- Watanabe, Kenji
- Korolkov, Vladimir V.
Funders
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council
- Other
- Leverhulme Trust
- Elemental Strategy Initiative
- JSPS KAKENHI
- MINECO
- CREST
Grant number
- EPSRC: EP/N033906/1
- Leverhulme Trust: RPG-2016-104
- Leverhulme Trust: RF-2019-460
- Elemental Strategy Initiative (MEXT): JPMXP0112101001
- JSPS KAKENHI: JP20H00354
- CREST: JPMJCR15F3
- MINECO: FJC2018-036517-I
- MINECO: RYC-2015-18539
Collection dates
- 01.08.2018 - 01.04.2020
Data collection method
Optical microscopy, Fluorescence microscopy, Atomic force microscopy, probe station current-voltage measurements.Resource languages
- en