Tuning of electronic properties of fullerene-oligothiophene layers

Electronic properties of fullerene derivatives containing oligothiophene pendant chain (1-3 thiophene moieties) were investigated using the Kelvin probe technique and quantum chemistry methods. For electrochemical examination of these systems, Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) layers were prepared by the deposition on a gold substrate. The analysis of the experimental data shows that the value of the work function depends strongly on the length of oligothiophene chain. Similar dependence was also found for the surface photovoltage measurements conducted for the layers consisting of multiple LB films of the examined compounds deposited on gold surfaces. The assumption has been made that these changes are associated with the influence of oligothiophene chain on the electrostatic potential distribution near the surface of the sample. The hypothesis was confirmed by the results of DFT calculations, which revealed that the value of Fermi level energy shifts in the opposite direction to the determined work function. The key highlights of this study are as follows: electronic structure tuning by oligothiophene side chain; DFT calculation on fullerene-thiophene system; work function measurements of thin molecular layers. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.