Microstructural Control of Charge Transport in Organic Blend Thin-Film Transistors

Simon Hunter, Jihua Chen, Thomas D. Anthopoulos*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

65 Scopus citations

Abstract

The charge-transport processes in organic p-channel transistors based on the small-molecule 2,8-difluoro-5,11-bis(triethylsilylethynyl)anthradithiophene (diF-TES ADT), the polymer poly(triarylamine)(PTAA) and blends thereof are investigated. In the case of blend films, lateral conductive atomic force microscopy in combination with energy filtered transmission electron microscopy are used to study the evolution of charge transport as a function of blends composition, allowing direct correlation of the film's elemental composition and morphology with hole transport. Lowerature transport measurements reveal that optimized blend devices exhibit lower temperature dependence of hole mobility than pristine PTAA devices while also providing a narrower bandgap trap distribution than pristine diF-TES ADT devices. These combined effects increase the mean hole mobility in optimized blends to 2.4 cm2/Vs - double the value measured for best diF-TES ADT-only devices. The bandgap trap distribution in transistors based on different diF-TES ADT:PTAA blend ratios are compared and the act of blending these semiconductors is seen to reduce the trap distribution width yet increase the average trap energy compared to pristine diF-TES ADT-based devices. Our measurements suggest that an average trap energy of <75 meV and a trap distribution of <100 meV is needed to achieve optimum hole mobility in transistors based on diF-TES ADT:PTAA blends.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5969-5976
Number of pages8
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume24
Issue number38
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • charge transport
  • conductive AFM
  • organic blend semiconductors
  • organic transistors
  • percolation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Microstructural Control of Charge Transport in Organic Blend Thin-Film Transistors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this