Insight into OTFT Sensors Using Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy

Transmission-based charge modulation microscopy on conjugated polymer blend field-effect transistors

Charge modulation microscopy (CMM) is an electro-optical method that is capable of mapping the spatial distribution of induced charges in an organic field-effect transistor (OFET). Here, we report a new (and simple) implementation of CMM in transmission geometry with camera-based imaging. A significant improvement in data acquisition speed (by at least an order of magnitude) has been achieved while preserving the spatial and spectral resolution. To demonstrate the capability of the system, we measured the spatial distribution of the induced charges in an OFET with a polymer blend of indacenodithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole and poly-vinylcarbazole that shows micrometer-scale phase separation. We were able to resolve spatial variations in the accumulated charge density on a length scale of 500 nm. We demonstrated through a careful spectral analysis that the measured signal is a genuine charge accumulation signal that is not dominated by optical artifacts.