Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
08:43
Effect of Bending on the Electrical Characteristics of Flexible Organic Single Crystal-based Field-effect Transistors
Published on: November 7, 2016
Indacenodithiophene semiconducting polymers for high-performance, air-stable transistors
Weimin Zhang1, Jeremy Smith, Scott E Watkins
1Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK. weimin.zhang@imperial.ac.uk
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|August 4, 2010
Summary
High-performance organic transistors were developed using semiconducting polymers. These materials exhibit excellent charge carrier mobility and ambient stability, making them promising for future organic optoelectronics.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Polymer Chemistry
Background:
- Semiconducting polymers are crucial for organic electronics.
- Indacenodithiohene (IDT) units are known for their electronic properties.
- Controlling crystallization in polymer thin films is key for device performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe high-performance, solution-processed transistors using novel semiconducting polymers.
- To investigate the impact of polymer backbone structure on film morphology and charge transport.
- To evaluate the potential of these polymers for next-generation organic optoelectronics.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of transistors using solution-processed semiconducting polymers.
- Synthesis of polymers incorporating indacenodithiohene repeat units with specific bridging functions.
- Characterization of thin film morphology and charge carrier mobility.
- Assessment of ambient stability and optical absorption properties.
Main Results:
- Polymers with indacenodithiohene units were successfully fabricated into high-performance transistors.
- Bridging functions on the polymer backbone effectively suppressed large-scale crystallization in thin films.
- Charge carrier mobilities up to 1 cm²/Vs were achieved for a benzothiadiazole copolymer.
- The developed polymers demonstrated good ambient stability and long-wavelength absorption.
Conclusions:
- Semiconducting polymers with indacenodithiohene units offer a promising platform for high-performance organic transistors.
- The controlled morphology achieved through backbone design leads to enhanced charge transport.
- These materials are attractive for applications in next-generation organic optoelectronics due to their performance and stability.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Semiconductors
There is variation in the electrical conductivity of materials - metals, semiconductors, and insulators that are showcased with the help of the energy band diagrams.
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
01:20Types of Semiconductors
Intrinsic semiconductors are highly pure materials with no impurities. At absolute zero, these semiconductors behave as perfect insulators because all the valence electrons are bound, and the conduction band is empty, disallowing electrical conduction. The Fermi level is a concept used to describe the probability of occupancy of energy levels by electrons at thermal equilibrium. In intrinsic semiconductors, the Fermi level is positioned at the midpoint of the energy gap at absolute zero. When...
01:28Stability of Conjugated Dienes
Introduction
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.
01:29Field Effect Transistor
Field-effect transistors (FETs) are integral to electronic circuits and distinguished by their three-terminal setup: the gate, drain, and source. These transistors operate as unipolar devices, which utilize either electrons or holes as charge carriers, in contrast to bipolar transistors, which use both types of carriers. The primary function of the FET is to modulate the flow of these carriers from the source to the drain through a channel. The voltage difference between the gate and source...