Molecular Design Concept for Enhancement Charge Carrier Mobility in OFETs: A Review

Abstract

In the last two decades, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have garnered increasing attention from the scientific and industrial communities. The performance of OFETs can be evaluated based on three factors: the charge transport mobility (μ), threshold voltage (Vth), and current on/off ratio (Ion/off). To enhance μ, numerous studies have concentrated on optimizing charge transport within the semiconductor layer. These efforts include: (i) extending π-conjugation, enhancing molecular planarity, and optimizing donor–acceptor structures to improve charge transport within individual molecules; and (ii) promoting strong aggregation, achieving well-ordered structures, and reducing molecular distances to enhance charge transport between molecules. In order to obtain a high charge transport mobility, the charge injection from the electrodes into the semiconductor layer is also important. Since a suitable frontier molecular orbitals’ level could align with the work function of the electrodes, in turn forming an Ohmic contact at the interface. OFETs are classified into p-type (hole transport), n-type (electron transport), and ambipolar-type (both hole and electron transport) based on their charge transport characteristics. As of now, the majority of reported conjugated materials are of the p-type semiconductor category, with research on n-type or ambipolar conjugated materials lagging significantly behind. This review introduces the molecular design concept for enhancing charge carrier mobility, addressing both within the semiconductor layer and charge injection aspects. Additionally, the process of designing or converting the semiconductor type is summarized. Lastly, this review discusses potential trends in evolution and challenges and provides an outlook; the ultimate objective is to outline a theoretical framework for designing high-performance organic semiconductors that can advance the development of OFET applications.

Long-range polymer ordering by directional coating to remarkably enhance the charge carrier mobility in PCDTPT-based organic field-effect transistors

“…One of the hindrances in the realization of high-performance OFETs is the intrinsic low-charge carrier mobility of OSCs material. Mobility has improved over two decades from 10 −5 to 10 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , which is 10 times more than that for FETs based on amorphous silicon thin film transistor technology (0.5–1 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) [7–11]. Such substantial enhancements in the performance of OFETs have enabled inspiring low-cost applications of flexible electronics like organic light emitting diodes, e-paper displays, chemical and biological sensors and RF identification tags.…”

Ring Fusion Elevates the Electronic Mobility of Azabenzannulated Perylene Diimide

“…[22] Although the maximum electron mobility reached 1.0×10 À 3 cm 2 V À 1 s À 1 , this result still largely lags behind. [26] Besides the bis-AzaBPDIs, mono-AzaBPDIs was also play vital role in the derivatives of AzaBPDIs. However, most of the previous work on OFET has focused on bis-AzaBPDIs, and the performance of mono-AzaBPDIs in OFET has been unexplored.…”