Highly Ordered Semiconducting Polymer Arrays for Sensitive Photodetectors

Semiconducting conjugated polymers possess attractive optoelectronic properties and low-cost solution processability and are inherently mechanically flexible. However, the device performance is susceptible to the fabrication methods because of the relatively weak intermolecular interaction of the polymers and their inherent conformational and energetic disorder. An efficient fabrication technique for large-scale integration of high-quality polymer architectures is essential for realizing high-performance optoelectronic devices. Here, we report an efficient method for fabrication of polymer nanowire arrays with a precise position, a smooth surface, a homogeneous size, high crystallinity, and ordered molecular packing. The controllable dewetting dynamics on a template with asymmetric wettability permits the formation of discrete capillary bridges, resulting in the ordered molecular packing arising from unidirectional recession of the three-phase contact line. The high quality of nanowire architectures is evidenced by the morphological characteristics and hybrid edge-on and face-on molecular packing with high crystallinity. On the basis of these high-quality nanowire arrays, photodetectors with a responsivity of 84.7 A W^-1 and detectivity of >10¹² Jones are realized. Our results provide a platform for integration of high-quality polymer architectures for use in high-performance optoelectronic devices.