Scanning tunneling microscopy investigations of self-organized poly(3-hexylthiophene) two-dimensional polycrystals

Scanning tunneling microscopy images of thin films of polythiophene cast on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite gives structural insight on both local (chain-packing and conformational) and mesoscopic (polycrystal structure) scales. It is revealed that 2D polycrystals form monodomains (20 nm parallel and perpendicular to the polymer backbone) (see Figure), partially interconnected by folded chains.