Conduction in plasma polymerized thiophene films

Polythiophene (PT) is known to be an intrinsically conducting and photoluminescent polymer. Plasma polymerization is a low pressure, room temperature deposition process wherein the monomer is fragmented and reassembled into a transparent, crosslinked film. Smooth films of plasma polymerized thiophene (PPT) had a sulfur to carbon ratio and an optical gap similar to that of PT, indicating that it may be a good candidate for conductivity. The conductivity was affected by the deposition conditions and doping the PPT with iodine not only increased conductivity, but also altered the conduction mechanism.