Concurrent quantitative conductivity and mechanical properties measurements of organic photovoltaic materials using AFM.

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) materials are inherently inhomogeneous at the nanometer scale. Nanoscale inhomogeneity of OPV materials affects performance of photovoltaic devices. Thus, understanding of spatial variations in composition as well as electrical properties of OPV materials is of paramount importance for moving PV technology forward. In this paper, we describe a protocol for quantitative measurements of electrical and mechanical properties of OPV materials with sub-100 nm resolution. Currently, materials properties measurements performed using commercially available AFM-based techniques (PeakForce, conductive AFM) generally provide only qualitative information. The values for resistance as well as Young's modulus measured using our method on the prototypical ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PC(61)BM system correspond well with literature data. The P3HT:PC(61)BM blend separates onto PC(61)BM-rich and P3HT-rich domains. Mechanical properties of PC(61)BM-rich and P3HT-rich domains are different, which allows for domain attribution on the surface of the film. Importantly, combining mechanical and electrical data allows for correlation of the domain structure on the surface of the film with electrical properties variation measured through the thickness of the film.