Electrical conduction mechanism in conjugated polymers studied using Flicker noise spectroscopy

Abstract We have performed detailed analysis of the fluctuations of the electrical current in electrochemically deposited conductive polymers (CP) using as example polyaniline and poly(3-methylthiophene). These heterogeneous and disordered materials cannot be analyzed in terms of classical conduction mechanisms (like Schottky or Poole–Frenkel emission). Instead, the electrical transport in CPs is to be considered as a stochastic process with large component of noise. We have been able to distinguish several modes of the conduction process in CPs by applying Flicker noise spectroscopy. Thus, we have established that the transport of charge carriers in highly doped CPs is much less correlated than in non-doped ones at the same electric field strength. While applied electric field increases, correlations become lower in a sequence of elementary events contributing to the conductivity of CP. Apparently, the change in the correlation length corresponds to changing mechanism of the electrical conduction. The lower correlation in highly doped sample can be attributed to various factors including change in CP conformation, enhancement in interchain charge transfer and generation of polaron lattice.