Imaging the bulk nanoscale morphology of organic solar cell blends using helium ion microscopy

Andrew J. Pearson; Stuart A. Boden; Darren M. Bagnall; David G. Lidzey; Cornelia Rodenburg

doi:10.1021/nl202269n

Imaging the bulk nanoscale morphology of organic solar cell blends using helium ion microscopy

Andrew J. Pearson^*, Stuart A. Boden, Darren M. Bagnall, David G. Lidzey, Cornelia Rodenburg

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We use helium ion microscopy (HeIM) to image the nanostructure of poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butric acid methyl ester (P3HT/PCBM) blend thin-films. Specifically, we study a blend thin-film subject to a thermal anneal at 140°C and use a plasma-etching technique to gain access to the bulk of the blend thin-films. We observe a domain structure within the bulk of the film that is not apparent at the film-surface and tentatively identify a network of slightly elongated PCBM domains having a spatial periodicity of (20 ± 4) nm a length of (12 ± 8) nm.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4275-4281
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	11
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/nl202269n
Publication status	Published - 12 Oct 2011
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

helium ion microscopy
P3HT
PCBM
polymer solar cells

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10.1021/nl202269n

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title = "Imaging the bulk nanoscale morphology of organic solar cell blends using helium ion microscopy",

abstract = "We use helium ion microscopy (HeIM) to image the nanostructure of poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butric acid methyl ester (P3HT/PCBM) blend thin-films. Specifically, we study a blend thin-film subject to a thermal anneal at 140°C and use a plasma-etching technique to gain access to the bulk of the blend thin-films. We observe a domain structure within the bulk of the film that is not apparent at the film-surface and tentatively identify a network of slightly elongated PCBM domains having a spatial periodicity of (20 ± 4) nm a length of (12 ± 8) nm.",

keywords = "helium ion microscopy, P3HT, PCBM, polymer solar cells",

author = "Pearson, {Andrew J.} and Boden, {Stuart A.} and Bagnall, {Darren M.} and Lidzey, {David G.} and Cornelia Rodenburg",

year = "2011",

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doi = "10.1021/nl202269n",

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T1 - Imaging the bulk nanoscale morphology of organic solar cell blends using helium ion microscopy

AU - Pearson, Andrew J.

AU - Boden, Stuart A.

AU - Bagnall, Darren M.

AU - Lidzey, David G.

AU - Rodenburg, Cornelia

PY - 2011/10/12

Y1 - 2011/10/12

N2 - We use helium ion microscopy (HeIM) to image the nanostructure of poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butric acid methyl ester (P3HT/PCBM) blend thin-films. Specifically, we study a blend thin-film subject to a thermal anneal at 140°C and use a plasma-etching technique to gain access to the bulk of the blend thin-films. We observe a domain structure within the bulk of the film that is not apparent at the film-surface and tentatively identify a network of slightly elongated PCBM domains having a spatial periodicity of (20 ± 4) nm a length of (12 ± 8) nm.

AB - We use helium ion microscopy (HeIM) to image the nanostructure of poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butric acid methyl ester (P3HT/PCBM) blend thin-films. Specifically, we study a blend thin-film subject to a thermal anneal at 140°C and use a plasma-etching technique to gain access to the bulk of the blend thin-films. We observe a domain structure within the bulk of the film that is not apparent at the film-surface and tentatively identify a network of slightly elongated PCBM domains having a spatial periodicity of (20 ± 4) nm a length of (12 ± 8) nm.

KW - helium ion microscopy

KW - P3HT

KW - PCBM

KW - polymer solar cells

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DO - 10.1021/nl202269n

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SN - 1530-6984

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SP - 4275

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JO - Nano Letters

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Imaging the bulk nanoscale morphology of organic solar cell blends using helium ion microscopy

Abstract

Keywords

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