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Solvent-Free Coating of Organic Semiconductor Membranes with Centimetric Crystalline Domains

Journal Article · · Advanced Electronic Materials
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5]
  1. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
  4. Peking Univ., Shenzhen (China)
  5. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States); Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
+ Show Author Affiliations

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) have shown great promise in a variety of applications. Although solution processing of OSCs has resulted in high-quality films, exquisite control of structural development to minimize defect formation during large-scale fabrication remains formidable. Compounding this challenge is the use of halogenated organic solvents, which poses significant health and environmental hazards. However, the solvent-free techniques introduced thus far impose additional limitations on solidification kinetics; the resulting OSC thin films are often more defective than those processed from solution. Here, a solvent-free technique is reported to prepare OSC membranes with centimetric crystalline domains. Leveraging the tendency for liquid crystalline materials to preferentially orient, OSCs are “prealigned” by depositing them from the melt over a metal frame to form a freely suspended membrane. Additionally, crystallization from this prealigned phase affords membranes with unprecedented structural order across macroscopic distances. Field-effect transistors comprising membranes of dioctyl[1]-benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8BTBT) and didodecyl[1]-benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C12BTBT) having centimeter-sized domains as active layers exhibit a hole mobility of ≈8.6 cm2 V-1 s-1, superseding the mobility of any transistors whose active layers are deposited from melt. This technique is scalable to yield membranes with large crystalline domains over wafer dimensions, making it amenable for broad applications in large-area organic electronics.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1773113
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1804239
Report Number(s):
BNL-221219-2021--JAAM
Journal Information:
Advanced Electronic Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Electronic Materials Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 7; ISSN 2199-160X
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
melt processing
organic semiconductors
single crystals
smectic liquid crystals
solvent-free coatings