Charge injection across a metal-organic interface suppressed by thermal diffusion

Abstract

We find that the ohmic conductance of Co-phthalocyanine (CoPc) vertical capacitive devices is irreversibly suppressed by orders of magnitude when they are heated above 340 K. Detailed structural and transport studies imply that the changes in the conductance are due to diffusion of the top Pd electrode into the CoPc layer. This leads to a decrease in Pd electrode effective work function, which increases the potential barrier for hole injection.