Switching from Electron to Hole Transport in Solution-Processed Organic Blend Field-Effect Transistors

Organic electronics became an attractive alternative for practical applications in complementary logic circuits due to the unique features of organic semiconductors such as solution processability and ease of large-area manufacturing. Bulk heterojunctions (BHJ), consisting of a blend of two organic semiconductors of different electronic affinities, allow fabrication of a broad range of devices such as light-emitting transistors, light-emitting diodes, photovoltaics, photodetectors, ambipolar transistors and sensors. In this work, the charge carrier transport of BHJ films in field-effect transistors is switched from electron to hole domination upon processing and post-treatment. Low molecular weight n-type N,N'-bis(n-octyl)-(1,7&1,6)-dicyanoperylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (PDI8-CN₂) was blended with p-type poly[2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophene-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene] (PBTTT-C₁₄) and deposited by spin-coating to form BHJ films. Systematic investigation of the role of rotation speed, solution temperature, and thermal annealing on thin film morphology was performed using atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering. It has been determined that upon thermal annealing the BHJ morphology is modified from small interconnected PDI8-CN₂ crystals uniformly distributed in the polymer fraction to large planar PDI8-CN2 crystal domains on top of the blend film, leading to the switch from electron to hole transport in field-effect transistors.