Interfacial Energy Level Alignment at Acid Oxidized Carbon Nanotube - Triphenyldiamine Contacts

We report an ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy study of the energetics at the interface between acid oxidised carbon nanotubes and the archetypical molecular N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1'biphenyl-4,4'diamine(TPD). Electrical equilibrium is achieved across both interfaces within the experiment time frame due to the formation of an interfacial dipole layer which abruptly shifts the vacuum level at the interface. To the authors knowledge this is the first reported measurement of the electronic structure of a carbon nanotube / organic semiconductor interface; a system in which the magnitude of the dipole layer formed at the interface upon contact formation is proportional to the difference in work function between the substrate and organic semiconductor overlayer.