Electron transport in thin films of polystyrene

Author

Watson, P. Keith

Author_Institution

Xerox Corp., Webster, NY, USA

fYear

1989

Firstpage

282

Lastpage

286

Abstract

The transport of electrons in polystyrene has been studied by charging thin films of the polymer with a low-energy (2 keV) electron beam and observing the decay of the resulting surface potential. This potential decays logarithmically with time, indicating that the electrons are detrapped over a long period. A time-dependent demarcation energy is used to analyze the detrapping process, and from this analysis information is obtained about the energy distribution of electron traps in the polymer. Above the glass transition temperature, detrapping is enhanced by the diffusion of defects at a rate determined by the micro-Brownian motion of the polymer chains

Keywords

electron traps; electronic conduction in insulating thin films; glass transition (polymers); organic insulating materials; polymer films; surface potential; electron beam charging; electron traps; glass transition temperature; micro-Brownian motion; polymer chains; polystyrene; surface potential; thin films; time-dependent demarcation energy; Dielectrics and electrical insulation; Electron beams; Electron traps; Glass; Information analysis; Polymer films; Surface charging; Temperature; Thermal conductivity; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Conduction and Breakdown in Solid Dielectrics, 1989., Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on

Conference_Location

Trondheim

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICSD.1989.69205

Filename

69205