The increased photostability of polymers in ambient oxygen via plasmonic enhanced fluorescence

Organic semiconductors are commonly used for the development optoelectronic devices. However, these materials degrade rapidly in the presence of light and oxygen. we expand upon our previously methods of using thin metal films to enhance the stability of a polymer via metal enhanced fluorescence. When overlap of the plasmon peak and peak fluorescence of the polymer is achieved the radiative decay rate increases. The plasmon can be tuned via changing the deposition time and current settings of the sputter coater used for coating. By obtaining fluorescence images of the polymer deposited on the metal film compare to on glass in ambient air, a high degree of stabilization is found via plasmonic interactions. Lifetimes were also obtained of the polymer on glass, an electron transporting layer, and a gold film to compare the changes in lifetime from plasmonic interactions versus charge transfer. The usefulness of plasmonic for organic solar cell materials was probed in this way.