Motion-Programmed Bar-Coating Method with Controlled Gap for High-Speed Scalable Preparation of Highly Crystalline Organic Semiconductor Thin Films

Abstract

Solution-processed organic semiconductor thin films with high charge carrier mobility are necessary for development of next-generation electronic applications, but the rapid processing speed demanded for the industrial-scale production of these thin films poses a challenge to control of their thin-film properties, such as crystallinity, morphology, and film-to-film uniformity. Here, we show a new solution coating method that is compatible with a roll-to-roll printing process at a rate of 2 mm s-1 by using a gap-controllable wire bar, motion-programming strategy, and blended active inks. We demonstrate that the coating bar, the horizontal motion of which is repeatedly brought to an intermittent standstill, results in an improved vertically self-stratified structure and a high crystallinity for organic active inks comprising a semiconducting small molecule and a semiconducting polymer. Furthermore, organic transistors prepared by the developed method show superior hole mobility with high operational stability (hysteresis and kink-free transfer characteristics), high uniformity over a large area of a 4 in. wafer, good reproducibility, and superior electromechanical stabilities on a flexible plastic substrate. The bar-coating approach demonstrated here will be a step toward developing industrial-scale practical organic electronics applications.