Abstract
Semiconductor devices have been made from polyacetylene, a conjugated polymeric semiconductor. The device operates in a novel way: charge is stored in localized soliton-like excitations of the polymer chain, which are introduced not by doping or photoexcitation but by the presence of a surface electric field. The formation of charged solitons changes the optical properties of the polymer, introducing optical absorption below the band gap. Combined with the processibility of the polymer, these new electro-optic effects may be exploited technologically in electro-optic modulators.
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Burroughes, J., Jones, C. & Friend, R. New semiconductor device physics in polymer diodes and transistors. Nature 335, 137–141 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/335137a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/335137a0
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