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Effect of Bending on the Electrical Characteristics of Flexible Organic Single Crystal-based Field-effect Transistors
Published on: November 7, 2016
Liquid crystals for organic thin-film transistors
Hiroaki Iino1, Takayuki Usui1, Jun-ichi Hanna1
11] Imaging Science and Engineering Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, J1-2, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503, Japan [2] Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), 4-1-8 Hon-cho, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan.
New liquid crystalline materials offer uniform, durable thin films for printed electronics. Smectic E phase organic semiconductors enhance field effect transistor performance and thermal stability up to 200°C.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Crystallography
Background:
- Organic semiconductors are promising for field effect transistors (FETs) in printed electronics.
- Current organic semiconductor films face challenges with inhomogeneity and poor thermal durability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address inhomogeneity and thermal durability issues in organic semiconductor films for FETs.
- To investigate the potential of liquid crystalline materials with a smectic E (SmE) phase.
Main Methods:
- Design and synthesis of a novel SmE liquid crystalline material (Ph-BTBT-10).
- Fabrication of polycrystalline thin films from SmE precursor films.
- Characterization of film uniformity, thermal durability, and FET performance.
Main Results:
- The synthesized Ph-BTBT-10 material forms uniform, molecularly flat polycrystalline thin films.
- Films exhibit high thermal durability up to 200°C.
- Field effect transistor mobility is enhanced by one order of magnitude (>10 cm²/Vs) after annealing at 120°C.
Conclusions:
- Smectic E liquid crystals offer a viable solution for creating uniform and thermally stable organic semiconductor films.
- The use of SmE liquid crystals in solution-processed FETs can advance printed electronics technology.
- Enhanced FET performance and durability pave the way for next-generation printed electronic devices.
