Fluorine Tin Oxide as an Alternative to Indium Tin Oxide in Polymer LEDs

Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrodes have been investigated for use instead of indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) as the holeinjecting electrode in polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The initial results presented here lead to the conclusion that the electrode–polymer interface is much more complex than a simple energy level diagram might imply. Single-layer devices that differ only in the material of the electrode (FTO or ITO) are compared, as are the effects of different methods of cleaning the electrode material. FTO is shown to offer several advantages over ITO—including its cost.