Acenes have long been the subject of intense study because of the unique electronic properties associated with their pi-bond topology. Recent reports of impressive semiconductor properties of larger homologues have reinvigorated research in this field, leading to new methods for their synthesis, functionalization, and purification, as well as for fabricating organic electronic components. Studies performed on high-purity acene single crystals revealed their intrinsic electronic properties and provide useful benchmarks for thin film device research. New approaches to add functionality were developed to improve the processability of these materials in solution. These new functionalization strategies have recently allowed the synthesis of acenes larger than pentacene, which have hitherto been largely unavailable and poorly studied, as well as investigation of their associated structure/property relationships.

The larger acenes: versatile organic semiconductors.

The present invention provides a heterocyclic compound and an organic light-emitting device including the heterocyclic compound. The organic light-emitting devices using the heterocyclic compounds have high-efficiency, low driving voltage, high luminance and long lifespan.

Organic light-emitting device

The syntheses and comprehensive characterization of 14 organic semiconductors based on perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes that are equipped with up to four halogen substituents in the bay area of the perylene core and five different highly fluorinated imide substituents are described. The influence of the substituents on the LUMO level and the solid state packing of PBIs was examined by cyclic voltammetry and single crystal structure analyses of seven PBI derivatives, respectively. Top-contact/bottom-gate organic thin film transistor (OTFT) devices were constructed by vacuum deposition of these PBIs on SiO2 gate dielectrics that had been pretreated with n-octadecyl triethoxysilane in vapor phase (OTS-V) or solution phase (OTS-S). The electrical characterization of all devices was accomplished in a nitrogen atmosphere as well as in air, and the structural features of thin films were explored by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Several of those PBIs that bear only hydr...

High-Performance Air-Stable n-Channel Organic Thin Film Transistors Based on Halogenated Perylene Bisimide Semiconductors

Principal goals in organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) gate dielectric research include achieving: (i) low gate leakage currents and good chemical/thermal stability, (ii) minimized interface trap state densities to maximize charge transport efficiency, (iii) compatibility with both p- and n- channel organic semiconductors, (iv) enhanced capacitance to lower OTFT operating voltages, and (v) efficient fabrication via solution-phase processing methods. In this Review, we focus on a prominent class of alternative gate dielectric materials: self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and multilayers (SAMTs) of organic molecules having good insulating properties and large capacitance values, requisite properties for addressing these challenges. We first describe the formation and properties of SAMs on various surfaces (metals and oxides), followed by a discussion of fundamental factors governing charge transport through SAMs. The last section focuses on the roles that SAMs and SAMTs play in OTFTs, such as surface treatments, gate dielectrics, and finally as the semiconductor layer in ultra-thin OTFTs.

Molecular self-assembled monolayers and multilayers for organic and unconventional inorganic thin-film transistor applications

Considerable research and development means have been focused in the past decade on organic semiconductor thin films and devices with applications to full color displays, flexible electronics and photovoltaics. Critical areas of these thin films are their interfaces with electrodes, with other organic films and with dielectrics, as these interfaces control charge injection and transport through the device. Full understanding of the mechanisms that determine the electronic properties of these interfaces, i.e. the relative position of molecular levels and charge carrier transport states, is an important goal to reach for developing reliable device processing conditions. This report provides an extensive, although probably somewhat biased, review of polymer– and small molecule–metal interface work of the past few years, with emphasis placed specifically on (i) the electronic structure and molecular level alignment at these interfaces, (ii) the perceived differences between small molecule and polymer interfaces, (iii) the difference between organic-on-metal and metal-on-organic interfaces, and (iv) the role played by electrode surface contamination in establishing interface energetics. Environmental conditions, e.g. vacuum vs. ambient, are found to be critical parameters in the processing of polymer and small molecule interfaces with metals. With similar processing conditions, these two types of interfaces are found to obey very similar molecular level alignment rules.

Energetics of metal–organic interfaces: New experiments and assessment of the field

We demonstrate an aerosol CVD process to dry deposit large-area SWCNT networks with tunable conductivity and optical transmittance on a wide range of substrates including flexible polymers. These SWCNT networks can be chemically doped to reach a sheet resistance of as low as 110 Ω/◻ at 90% optical transmittance. A wide application potential of these networks is demonstrated by fabricating SWCNT network-based devices such as a transparent capacitive touch sensors, thin-film transistors (TFTs), and bright organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Aerosol-synthesized SWCNT networks with tunable conductivity and transparency by a dry transfer technique.

The dependence of the field-effect mobility of organic thin-film transistors (OTFT) was measured using top-contact devices. OTFTs were fabricated by vacuum sublimation of pentacene on thermally oxidized silicon wafers to form films with nominal thickness between 2 and 25 monolayers. The deposition was carried out at a low rate and the substrate was heated in order to yield high-quality films. The results indicate that the mobility saturates when 6 monolayers of pentacene are deposited on the gate dielectric, SiO2.

Thickness Dependence of Mobility in Pentacene Thin‐Film Transistors

Evacuated tube solar collectors integrated with phase change materials

Evacuated tube solar collector with multifunctional absorber layers

The hole mobility in the fluorene copolymer poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(4,4′-(N-(4-sec-butylphenyl)) diphenylamine)] (TFB) was measured using the time-of-flight technique. Transport was found to be nondispersive throughout the temperature range between 220 and 350K, indicating the absence of intrinsic traps in this material. At room temperature, TFB shows a hole mobility of 0.01cm2V−1s−1, with a weak field dependence. The hole mobility is independent of sample thickness in the range between 0.9 and 6.4μm. These results are in agreement with a narrow transport manifold, with a width of 65.9±0.5meV.

Alexios Papadimitratos

Papers

Aerosol-synthesized SWCNT networks with tunable conductivity and transparency by a dry transfer technique.

Thickness Dependence of Mobility in Pentacene Thin‐Film Transistors

Evacuated tube solar collectors integrated with phase change materials

Evacuated tube solar collector with multifunctional absorber layers

Nondispersive hole transport in a polyfluorene copolymer with a mobility of 0.01cm2V−1s−1