Organic semiconductors are under investigation for radiation sensors at Sandia National Laboratories. The wide band gaps, high resistivities, low dielectric constants, and high dielectric strengths of conjugated polymers suggest these materials may be suitable for solid-state particle counting detectors. A range of solution cast materials have been evaluated for this application, including polythiophenes and poly(p-phenylene vinylene)s, or PPVs.

Films were prepared by novel solution casting and mechanical stretching methods. Device structures including interdigital metal electrodes on glass and thin film transistors on SiO2 on silicon were fabricated by drop casting from solution and lamination of solid films. Transient and DC responses were recorded and analyzed. Experiments include laser stimulus for photoconductive pulse response, and field effect transistor testing. Mechanical stretching was shown to dramatically alter electrical properties of polymer films.

Future work will analyze the feasibility of single particle detection and analyze various geometries for optimization. The effects of traps and methods for reduction of trapping effects will be analyzed.