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Fundamental Investigations of the Microstructure of
Semicrystalline Polymers for Alternative Energy Generations
Alberto Salleo, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
The electronic performance of conjugated polymers in solar cells, LEDs and transistors depends on the
microstructure of the polymer at organic/inorganic interfaces. The inorganic counterpart of the polymer
might be an inorganic crystal in a bulk heterojunction solar cell, a gate dielectric in transistors or a metal
contact in LEDs.
Our goal is to prepare transmission electron microscopy (TEM) foils of inorganic/organic interfaces to
characterize them with high resolution. We have succeeded in preparing such samples by focused ion
beam (FIB) milling and have started characterizing them. We started with a simpler system where the
organic semiconductor is crystalline (pentacene). Future work will involve characterizing the pentacene
layer and extending the sample study to bulk heterojunction solar cells.
Al
Pc
pentacene
Si
TEM cross-section
of a
Si/Al/pentacene
multilayer