Charge injection promoted electrohydrodynamic instabilities in poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films

Abstract

We investigate the electrohydrodynamic instabilities in poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) semiconducting polymer films. In the case that a contact is made between the P3HT film and an anode of a doped silicon wafer, the instabilities quickly grow into micro-column arrays in several minutes. The resultant micro-columns in the P3HT film show spherulitic morphology and the polymer chains in the columns are packed with an “edge on” orientation. Charge injection across a small injection barrier is attributed to the promoted electrohydrodynamic instabilities in the thin film.