Electroluminescence from gold-containing polymeric thin films

The structures investigated consisted of three evaporated layers: a transparent indium-tin-oxide electrode on glass, gold-containing plasma polymerized thin film, and a small top electrode of Au or Al. A combined electroluminescence and transport analysis is carried out, and the emission process is investigated. It is noted that the implications of the emission process are important when studying the electrical transport and luminescence properties of polymeric thin films. On the one hand it can be used as a probe to detect the onset of hot electron conduction processes. On the other hand, care should be taken when looking at the electroluminescence due to the dielectric matrix; the mediation of the emission from the device by radiative plasmon decay at the electrodes must be considered when the current flowing through the structures is not negligible. The results confirm the fact that surface plasmons can be created in a metal-insulator-metal structure with no tunneling as the driving mechanism. >