Electrical measurements on single semiconducting polymer wires

Semiconducting polymers are a fascinating class of materials, both fundamentally and because of their broad applicability in electronics, photovoltaics, display technology and bioelectronics. Relatively few attempts have been made to explore the properties of individual polymer chains, however, and those studies have led to a broad range of observations that can be difficult to reconcile. Here we discuss these measurements with attention to the differences in experimental configurations that may underlie the breadth of experimental reports.