Photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical modeling applied to polymer surfaces and interfaces in light-emitting devices

Some details of the electronic structure of specific metal-on-polymer and polyaniline oligomer-on-ITO interfaces have been presented to illustrate the importance of such interfaces in determining device performance in polymer LEDs. In every instance studied, there is always some chemistry that occurs at the interface. There is no such thing as an ideal metal-polymer contact without interfacial chemistry of one sort or another. In this context, it is clear that the ultimate control of the interface will be one of the major determining steps in the exploitation of reliable polymer-based electronic devices.