Abstract

Photoconductive polymers are insulators in the dark but become conductive when irradiated by light. They are widely used in the imaging industry as either photosensitive receptors or carrier transporting material in copy machines and laser printers (electrophotography). This is one of the few areas in electronics in which polymers are used on a large-scale industrial basis and are clearly superior or equivalent to inorganic semiconductors.

This article reviews material properties of a wide variety of photoconductive polymers. Important parameters such as carrier mobility and charge-generation efficiency are tabulated. Mechanisms for charge generation and charge transport of polymers are discussed. Potential applications in areas other than electrophotography are also considered.