Conducting polymers are mixed ionic–electronic conductors that are emerging candidates for neuromorphic computing, bioelectronics and thermoelectrics. However, fundamental aspects of their many-body correlated electron–ion transport physics remain poorly understood. Here we show that in p-type organic electrochemical transistors it is possible to remove all of the electrons from the valence band and even access deeper bands without degradation. By adding a second, field-effect gate electrode, additional electrons or holes can be injected at set doping states. Under conditions where the counterions are unable to equilibrate in response to field-induced changes in the electronic carrier density, we observe surprising, non-equilibrium transport signatures that provide unique insights into the interaction-driven formation of a frozen, soft Coulomb gap in the density of states. Our work identifies new strategies for substantially enhancing the transport properties of conducting polymers by exploiting non-equilibrium states in the coupled system of electronic charges and counterions.

导电聚合物是混合离子电子导体，是神经形态计算、生物电子学和热电学的新兴候选材料。然而，人们对其多体相关电子-离子输运物理学的基本方面仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们表明，在 p 型有机电化学晶体管中，可以从价带中去除所有电子，甚至可以在不退化的情况下进入更深的能带。通过添加第二个场效应栅电极，可以在设定的掺杂状态注入额外的电子或空穴。在反离子无法平衡以响应场引起的电子载流子密度变化的情况下，我们观察到令人惊讶的非平衡传输特征，这些特征为相互作用驱动的冷冻软库仑间隙的形成提供了独特的见解。状态密度。我们的工作确定了通过利用电子电荷和反离子耦合系统中的非平衡态来显着增强导电聚合物的传输性能的新策略。