Work-function engineering of carbon nanotube transparent conductive films

We developed a method that allows control of the work function of carbon nanotube (CNT) transparent conductive films on a flexible sheet of plastic. The approach involves the deposition of small amount of metals, such as aluminum, on CNT transparent conductive films followed by a measure of the work function of the films using in situ ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Core-level spectra of the films were collected in order to investigate the chemical reaction when a small amount of aluminum was deposited on their surface in a stepwise manner. The measurements revealed that deposition of less than 0.5 nm of aluminum was enough to control the work function of CNT transparent conductive films. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.