High performance inkjet-printed C60 fullerene thin-film transistors: Toward a low-cost and reproducible solution process

Kang, Woogun; Kitamura, M.; Arakawa, Yasuhiko

doi:10.1016/j.orgel.2012.11.009

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Evidently, the here investigated fullerene mixtures feature excellent charge transport properties, which are on par with results reported for solution-processed pristine fullerenes. [5,18] It is worth noting that the absence of ordered domains (see Supporting Information Figure S2), combined with the high symmetry of the fullerene molecules, implies several attractive features such as the absence of grain boundaries, which can impede charge transport, as well as isotropic device characteristics. [19] We further explored the use of pristine fullerene mixtures as an acceptor material for polymer solar cells.…”

Section: / 18mentioning

confidence: 99%

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High‐Entropy Mixtures of Pristine Fullerenes for Solution‐Processed Transistors and Solar Cells

et al. 2015

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cells 2 / 18Fullerenes are an intriguing class of organic semiconductors that feature a high electron affinity and exceptional charge transport properties, desirable for a number of thin-film optoelectronic applications such as field-effect transistors (FETs) and organic solar cells. Despite their desirable solid-state properties a major disadvantage of pristine C60 and C70 is the seemingly poor solubility in organic solvents, [1,2] which however can be substantially improved by attaching exohedral moieties to the fullerene cage, albeit at the expense of a high electron mobility. [3][4][5] In addition, pristine fullerenes suffer from the strong tendency to crystallize during solvent removal, which complicates formation of continuous thin films. As a result, substituted fullerenes, such as in particular phenyl-Cx-butyric acid methyl esters (PCBMs; x = 61 or 71), are by far the most widely studied electron acceptor material for organic photovoltaic applications. The trade-off between increased solubility and reduced electron mobility has so far been acceptable for thin-film solar cells because the latter is still sufficiently high to not limit solar cell performance, which more strongly depends on the precise active layer nanostructure. However, as future improvements in device efficiency rely on thick active layers and high-mobility materials, [6] the use of pristine fullerenes may prove to be advantageous provided that solubility issues can be addressed and a favorable nanostructure can be achieved.The most efficient active layer nanostructure of organic solar cells is the bulkheterojunction, which is typically prepared by co-processing a fullerene acceptor and a suitable donor from a common organic solvent. Although devices based on the pristine fullerene C70 have been reported for both polymer and small-molecule donors with a powerconversion efficiency PCE of 5.1 % and 5.9 %, respectively, [7,8] the most competitive results are currently achieved with the more soluble PCBMs, which can yield a PCE of more than 10 %. [9] As low cost is the major selling point of organic photovoltaics, it is desirable to choose the most cost-effective materials. In this regard, the use of PCBMs as the electron 3 / 18 acceptor is not optimal. The additional synthesis steps required to prepare these derivatives from pristine fullerenes considerably increase the energy footprint, which implies a higher environmental impact as well as an overall higher materials cost. For instance, Anctil et al.calculated a life cycle embodied energy as low as about 8 GJ kg -1 for the as-synthesized C60:C70 mixture, which increases to 25 GJ kg -1 for C60 and 38 GJ kg -1 for C70 after separation and electronic-grade purification. [10] In contrast, preparation of substituted fullerenes consumes significantly more energy, i.e. 65 GJ kg -1 and 90 GJ kg -1 for electronic-grade PC61BM and PC71BM, respectively. Therefore, the use of pristine fullerenes and in particular C60:C70 mixtures may result in significant energy savings provided that the ability to f...

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Section: / 18mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: / 18mentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐Entropy Mixtures of Pristine Fullerenes for Solution‐Processed Transistors and Solar Cells

et al. 2015

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“…Of the various materials that have been explored as possible electron acceptors in FETs, C 60 fullerenes ,,− and C 70 fullerenes and their derivatives have been used in a large number of studies and have shown some of the more promising electron mobilities . C 70 has also been studied extensively as an electron-acceptor in OPVs, − with C 70 -based acceptors offering increased photoabsorption over a large energy range relative to the traditional C 60 -based acceptors .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polaron Structure and Transport in Fullerene Materials: Insights from First-Principles Calculations

et al. 2014

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Organic semiconductors offer a low-cost alternative to inorganic semiconductors. However, their usefulness is limited by a relatively low mobility of polaron charge carriers. Past research indicates a positive correlation between charge density and charge mobility in organic semiconductors. This relationship is usually attributed to the phenomenon of excess charges filling traps. Here, we explore whether charge density may also affect mobility via influence on intermolecular couplings. Density functional theory (DFT) with a long-range corrected (LC-BLYP) functional is used to calculate charge densities and electronic couplings of negative charges on C70 fullerenes in the presence of nearby negative point charges, which provides an upper limit calculation of the influence of nearby polarons. We find that in C70 systems with relatively low couplings, the presence of additional charges has an effect of maximizing intermolecular couplings and hence transport. This effect drops off quickly with distance, suggesting that it is relevant only at extremely high charge densities that are an unlikely event in current C70 devices. The effect of charge density on couplings may be useful in understanding transport in very limited regions of C70 materials where the local charge density is high; however, it is unlikely to affect overall device performance.

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“…1 Lowvoltage operation of OTFTs has been demonstrated for devices fabricated via numerous techniques including, roll-to-roll (R2R) printing, 2 thermal evaporation, 3,4 vapour-phase deposition, 5,6 and spin-coating methods, [7][8][9] as well as through the use of self-assembled monolayer nano-dielectrics, 10-12 electrolyte dielectrics, [13][14][15] and ultra-thin polymer dielectrics. 3,7,8 However, with the exception of R2R processing, none of these fabrication techniques are suitable for high-throughput manufacturing, which is critical for the development of ubiquitous, disposable electronics based on OTFTs.…”

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confidence: 99%

Low-voltage polymer/small-molecule blend organic thin-film transistors and circuits fabricated via spray deposition

Hunter

Ward

Payne

et al. 2015

Applied Physics Letters

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Organic thin-film electronics have long been considered an enticing candidate in achieving high-throughput manufacturing of low-power ubiquitous electronics. However, to achieve this goal, more work is required to reduce operating voltages and develop suitable mass-manufacture techniques. Here, we demonstrate low-voltage spray-cast organic thin-film transistors based on a semiconductor blend of 2,8-difluoro- 5,11-bis (triethylsilylethynyl) anthradithiophene and poly(triarylamine). Both semiconductor and dielectric films are deposited via successive spray deposition in ambient conditions (air with 40%–60% relative humidity) without any special precautions. Despite the simplicity of the deposition method, p-channel transistors with hole mobilities of >1 cm2/Vs are realized at −4 V operation, and unipolar inverters operating at −6 V are demonstrated.

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High performance inkjet-printed C60 fullerene thin-film transistors: Toward a low-cost and reproducible solution process

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

High‐Entropy Mixtures of Pristine Fullerenes for Solution‐Processed Transistors and Solar Cells

High‐Entropy Mixtures of Pristine Fullerenes for Solution‐Processed Transistors and Solar Cells

Polaron Structure and Transport in Fullerene Materials: Insights from First-Principles Calculations

Low-voltage polymer/small-molecule blend organic thin-film transistors and circuits fabricated via spray deposition

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