Characterization of semicrystalline polymers after nanoimprint by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Semicrystalline Reg-P3HT (regio-regular poly-3-hexylthiophene) is a promising material for organic electronics. It features relatively high charge mobility and enables easy preparation because of its solubility. Due to its high optical and electrical anisotropy, the size, number and orientation of the ordered domains are important for applications. To control these properties without limitation from crystalline domains existing after spin coating, thermal nanoimprint is performed beyond the melting point. The state of the art of measurement to analyze the complex morphology is X-ray diffraction (XRD). We address an alternative measurement method to characterize the material by its optical properties, spectroscopic ellipsometry. It provides information on the degree of order from the typical fingerprint absorption spectrum. In addition, when the material is modeled as a uniaxial layer, an anisotropy factor can be derived. The results obtained from spectroscopic ellipsometry are in accordance with those from XRD. In particular, spectroscopic ellipsometry is able to distinguish between order along the backbone and order in π–π stacking direction, which is important with respect to conductivity.