An effect of crystallographic distortion on carrier mobility in poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films

The aggregation states and physical properties of polymers in thin films deviate from those found in the bulk. Although an effect of the thickness on the carrier mobility for thin films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) has been widely studied, there is a lack of discussion in terms of crystallographic distortion. Here, we demonstrate how the out-of-plane hole mobility in P3HT, which is a typical semiconducting polymer, changes with decreasing film thickness. Time-of-flight measurements with an analysis using the Gaussian disorder model revealed that the zero-field out-of-plane hole mobility decreased with decreasing thickness because of an increase in the energetical and spatial distribution of hopping sites. Grazing incidence wide-angle x-ray diffraction measurements revealed that such distributions of charge carriers were induced by the crystallographic distortion of P3HT in the thin films.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated how the out-of-plane hole mobility in P3HT changes with decreasing film thickness, attributing the decrease in mobility to an increase in energetical and spatial distribution of hopping sites caused by crystallographic distortion in the thin films. Grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the induced distributions of charge carriers.