Solubility-driven thin film structures of regioregular poly(3-hexyl thiophene) using volatile solvents

Abstract

Using atomic force microscopy and grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction, the authors found that the use of volatile CH2Cl2 not only offers an advantage in minimizing regioregular poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (RR P3HT) film deposition time, but also directs the desirable parallel orientation of π-π stacking planes of RR P3HT with respect to solid substrates, for both spin and drop castings. The substrate temperature effects have been investigated to support claims that the substrate-induced crystallization of RR P3HT preseeds the parallel oriented crystals prior to spin casting, when the warm CH2Cl2 solution is loaded on a “cold” substrate held at room temperature.