We present a method to manipulate the final morphology of roll-to-roll slot-die coated poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) by optically exciting the p-type polymer in solution while coating. Our results provide a comprehensive picture of the entire knowledge chain, from demonstrating how to apply our method to a fundamental understanding of the changes in morphology and physical properties induced by exciting P3HT while coating. By combining results from density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations with a variety of X-ray experiments, absorption spectroscopy, and THz spectroscopy, we demonstrate the relationship between morphology and physical properties of the thin film. Specifically, in P3HT films excited with light during deposition, we observe changes in crystallinity and texture with more face-on orientation and increased out-of-plane charge mobility.
@article{arxiv.2203.00039,
title = {Manipulating organic semiconductor morphology with visible light},
author = {Michael Korning Sorensen and Anders Skovbo Gertsen and Rocco Peter Fornari and Binbin Zhou and Peter Uhd Jepsen and Edoardo Stanzani and Shinhee Yun and Marcial Fernandez Castro and Matthias Schwartzkopf and Alexandros Koutsioubas and Piotr de Silva and Moises Espindola Rodriguez and Luise Theil Kuhn and Jens Wenzel Andreasen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.00039},
year = {2022}
}