title: Surface modification and characterization of indium-tin oxide for organic light-emitting devices.
abstract: In this work, we used different treatment methods (ultrasonic degreasing, hydrochloric acid treatment, and oxygen plasma) to modify the surfaces of indium-tin oxide (ITO) substrates for organic light-emitting devices. The surface properties of treated ITO substrates were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), sheet resistance, contact angle, and surface energy measurements. Experimental results show that the ITO surface properties are closely related to the treatment methods, and the oxygen plasma is more efficient than the other treatments since it brings about smoother surfaces, lower sheet resistance, higher work function, and higher surface energy and polarity of the ITO substrate. Moreover, polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (PLECs) with differently treated ITO substrates as device electrodes were fabricated and characterized. It is found that surface treatments of ITO substrates have a certain degree of influence upon the injection current, brightness, and efficiency, but hardly upon the turn-on voltages of current injection and light emission, which are in agreement with the measured optical energy gap of the electroluminescent polymer. The oxygen plasma treatment on the ITO substrate yields the best performance of PLECs, due to the improvement of interface formation and electrical contact of the ITO substrate with the polymer blend in the PLECs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sichuan, Chengdu 610054, People's Republic of China. zyzhongzy@163.com
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D007204:Indium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D049449:Luminescence; D049408:Luminescent Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties; D017971:Tin Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D049408:Luminescent Agents; D011108:Polymers; D017971:Tin Compounds; D007204:Indium; C045358:stannic oxide