Electronic Spectroscopy of Individual PEDOT:PSS Polymer Globules Using Optical Microresonators

Randall Goldsmith
University of Wisconsin Madison


Abstract

Single-molecule (SM) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for the characterization of the optical and electronic properties of organic materials because it allows underlying chemical and electronic diversity to be directly observed. Hidden beneath the ensemble-average is a wealth of details on structure-property relationships that serves to connect microscopic pictures of electronic structure, such as polaron structure, with macroscopic observations on thin film and device properties. While single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy has made tremendous contributions to the understanding of exciton transport in conjugated polymers, the behavior of charged carriers in conjugated polymers has been difficult to study via single-molecule methods since the injection of charge significantly quenches fluorescence. We have developed a new approach that enables spectroscopy on individual non-emissive nano-objects. Our experiment relies on ultrahigh-Q toroidal optical microresonators as platforms for photothermal spectroscopy. Electronic transitions are optically driven in the particle of interest, while the thermalization of the excitation energy is detected by the resonator. The high sensitivity of the microresonator to thermal fluctuations makes this new spectroscopy capable of detecting the heat dissipated from individual conjugated polymer globules. We have used this new method to perform spectroscopy of polarons on single globules of PEDOT:PSS, a critical transparent conducting polymer broadly used in organic transistors and photovoltaic devices. While the near-infrared (NIR) absorption spectrum of thin films of PEDOT:PSS show a tremendously broad and featureless spectral feature, single-polymer experiments show well-resolved spectral maxima, allowing direct elucidation of how a macroscopic material is composed of individual microscopic contributing electronic systems. In addition, observation of discrete families of polaron transition energies suggests a limited array of allowable conformations. Polarization spectroscopy suggests a high degree of ordering of PEDOT oligomers. Taken together, these measurements will provide a window of unprecedented detail on the electronic properties of organic materials. Future applications to understand structure-property relationships in individual polymer globules and to elucidate the onset of electronic disorder will be discussed.