Thermo-electro-mechanical characterization of nanoscale conducting polymer films

As the length scale of electronic materials is pushed down to the same order of electron or phonon mean free path, their physical properties (mechanical, electrical, thermal) significantly deviate from the bulk behavior. More importantly, such deviations are expected to give rise to stronger coupling among these domains. Multi-physics characterization is therefore essential for fundamental understanding and application of such coupling. In this paper, we present an experimental technique to achieve this, which is demonstrated on 20-250 nm thick polyaniline films. The observed strong mechanical strain dependence of electrical and thermal conductivity bears critical significance on organic electronics design.