Buried surface electronic states of MEH-PPV studied by 2-D IR-visible sum frequency generation

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Qifeng Li, qfli@chem.ubc.ca, Rui Hua, rhua@chem.ubc.ca, and Keng C. Chou, kcchou@chem.ubc.ca. Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z1, Canada
We present the first measurement of the buried surface electronic states of the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy, 5-ethyl (2'-hexyloxy) para-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) using two dimensional (2D) IR-visible sum frequency generation (SFG). By scanning the frequencies of both incident IR and visible beams, SFG electronic spectra were obtained to study the surface electronic transitions associated with the C=C stretching of benzene rings located at the backbone of MEH-PPV. Theoretical analysis based on an oligomer model was employed to estimate the conjugation length distributions of MEH-PPV at interfaces. Assuming a Gaussian conjugation length distribution, it was found that the conjugation length distribution at the MEH-PPV/solid interface is centered at 5.8 monomer units. Similar surface effects were also observed at the air/polymer interface with a slightly shorter average conjugation length of 5.1 monomer units.