N-Heteroacenes in Organic Field-Effect Transistors

Abstract

Linear acenes are a widely studied class of materials in the field of Organic Electronics. Their aromatic system and the strong interaction of the π-electrons of neighbouring molecules in the solid state allow an efficient charge transport in these materials. The defined molecular structure of these small molecules and the possibility to tune their optical and electronic properties as well as the solid state packing through careful chemical design and synthesis have resulted in numerous applications of acenes in organic transistors and optoelectronic devices. This work focuses on the application of N-Heteroacenes and non-conjugated pentacene-based polymers as semiconductors in solution-processed organic field-effect transistors. These devices are used to evaluate the charge transport properties of the materials and derive structure-function relationships for the various compounds. To draw structure-function relationships from the studies described in this thesis, a myriad of characterisation techniques was employed to obtain an insight into the optical, electronic, electrical and morphological properties of each material. The effects of order, energetics and processing of the semiconductor on the transistor performance are all investigated. While non-conjugated pentacene-based polymers offer an ease of processability, their amorphous nature inhibits efficient hole transport, resulting in a relatively poor transistor performance. The fashion in which the pentacene systems are connected to the polymer backbone changes their flexibility and therefore affecting the injection behaviour and charge transport properties. The nitrogen substitution in N-Heteroacenes results in an energetic stabilisation of the frontier molecular orbitals, allowing for an enhanced electron injection into these materials. For the symmetrical tetraazapentacene and two halogenated phenazine derivatives relatively high electron mobilities were achieved demonstrating their potential for future application as n-type semiconductors in organic field-effect transistors. The use of N-heteroacenes is not limited to electron transport only. Their N,N’-dihydro forms are electron rich compounds that exhibit good hole transport. This is demonstrated for differently substituted tetraazapentacenes as well as for a N,N’-dihydro diazahexacene and -heptacene. For these materials it is shown that the processing conditions not only affect the macroscopic transistor performance, but also influence the formation of polymorphs in thin films. The solid state packing of functionalised acenes is typically determined by their solubilising side chains. A norbornadienyl substitution at the side chain of the well-known 6,13-bis(triisopropylsiliylethynyl)pentacene and its tetraaza derivative was shown to result in an enhancement of the charge transport properties for the p-type derivatives and deterioration of the performance of the n-type transistors. These observations are related to changes in the charge transfer integrals, the film microstructure and the solid state packing. In conclusion, this work contributes to the development of guidelines for the design and synthesis of next generation N-heteroacenes to be applied in the future in state of the art organic electronic devices.