Schottky Barrier Height Quantification of Plasma Treated P(VDF-TRFE) Thin Films

Angle-resolved XPS and ToF-SIMS are employed to determine the impact of O2/CF4plasma treatment on P(VDF-TrFE) surface chemistry. Results indicate that chemical modification by plasma increases the percentage of F and O at the film surface, with the grafted species remaining within the first 5-10nm of the film. Analysis of current-voltage I(V) data reveals that high field conduction is an interfacially dominated phenomenon in the modified P(VDF-TrFE) thin films. A parametric study of Schottky emission theory indicates that conduction is dominated by change in Schottky barrier height relative to change in both material permittivity and Richardson constant. Schottky barrier height quantification estimates a lowering of the barrier height by 0.041eV due to plasma treatment, further supporting that conduction is surface dominated in thin P(VDF -TrFE) films, and that conduction can be significantly influenced via surface chemical modification.