Nanoparticle-induced negative differential resistance and memory effect in polymer bistable light-emitting device

摘要

Recently, electrical bistability was demonstrated in polymer thin films incorporated with metal nanoparticles [J. Ouyang, C. W. Chu, C. R. Szmanda, L. P. Ma, and Y. Yang, Nat. Mater. 3, 918 (2004)]. In this letter, we show the evidence that electrons are the dominant charge carriers in these bistable devices. Direct integration of bistable polymer layer with a light-emitting polymer layer shows a unique light-emitting property modulated by the electrical bistability. A unique negative differential resistance induced by the charged gold nanoparticles is observed due to the charge trapping effect from the nanoparticles when interfaced with the light-emitting layer.