Influence of organic material and sample parameters on the surface potential in Kelvin probe measurements

Scanning Kelvin probe is a method for material surface studies. It is used to determine the work function of metals. In the case of organic semiconductors, the measured surface potential is considered to be the Fermi level of the material which has been shown in some cases. But in most papers, the surface potential dependence on the metal electrode or film thickness was observed. Material properties and their influence on the measured surface potential and its relation to the Fermi level previously have not been systematically studied. In this work, the surface potential was measured for different materials—metal, organic dielectric material, and organic semiconductors. In most of the cases, the obtained surface potential was dependent on the metal electrode work function. This dependence decreased with the increase in electrical conductivity of the material. Several materials were chosen for studies where sample thickness was varied. Results showed that for most of the studied semiconductors the sample thickness of around 1.5–2 µm was required to obtain surface potential values which do not depend on the electrode work function.