High-Temperature Electronic Transport Properties of PEDOT:PSS Top-Contact Molecular Junctions with Oligophenylene Dithiols

In this study, we investigated the high-temperature electronic transport behavior of spin-coated PEDOT:PSS top-contact molecular ensemble junctions based on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of oligophenylene dithiols. We observed irreversible temperature-dependent charge transport at the high-temperature regime over 320 K. The effective contact resistance and normalized resistance decreased with increasing temperature (320 to 400 K), whereas the tunneling attenuation factor was nearly constant irrespective of temperature change. These findings demonstrate that the high-temperature transport properties are not dominated by the integrity of SAMs in molecular junctions, but rather the PEDOT:PSS/SAMs contact. Transition voltage spectroscopy measurements indicated that the contact barrier height of the PEDOT:PSS/SAMs is lowered at elevated temperatures, which gives rise to a decrease in the contact resistance and normalized resistance. The high-temperature charge transport through these junctions is also related to an increase in the grain area of PEDOT cores after thermal treatment. Moreover, it was found that there was no significant change in either the current density or normalized resistance of the annealed junctions after 60 days of storage in ambient conditions.

Automated summary

This study investigated the high-temperature electronic transport behavior of spin-coated PEDOT:PSS top-contact molecular ensemble junctions based on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of oligophenylene dithiols. It was found that the high-temperature charge transport is not dominated by the integrity of SAMs, but rather the PEDOT:PSS/SAMs contact. The contact barrier height of the PEDOT:PSS/SAMs decreased at elevated temperatures, resulting in a decrease in contact resistance and normalized resistance. Additionally, the increase in grain area of PEDOT cores after thermal treatment was also related to the high-temperature charge transport.