Organic Thin Film Transistor Applications Research Articles

Organic thin film transistors in wearable electronics: prospects in sensor technology and healthcare

This paper critically examines Organic Thin Film Transistors (OTFTs), emphasizing their crucial role in enhancing wearable electronics. Through an in-depth exploration of OTFT fundamental principles and unique characteristics, the paper highlights their advantages, such as unparalleled mechanical flexibility and low-temperature processing capabilities, over traditional semiconductor technologies. It delves into OTFT applications in wearable sensor technologies and healthcare monitoring, illustrating the significant benefits of OTFT integration, including superior energy efficiency and augmented user comfort. Addressing the primary challenges of power consumption, environmental stability, and manufacturing scalability, the study proposes innovative solutions to improve these areas. Central to the research objectives is the enhancement of OTFT performance through strategic material selection, fabrication techniques, and integration approaches to ensure device durability and functionality. The paper concludes with a comprehensive analysis of recent advancements and future directions, underscoring the transformative potential of OTFTs in wearable electronics. This research finds that through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative engineering, it is possible to mitigate the current limitations of OTFTs, paving the way for their widespread adoption in advanced wearable and healthcare technologies.

Stretchable Semiconducting Polymers with Hydrogen-Bonding-Capable Conjugation Breakers: Synthesis and Application in Organic Thin-Film Transistors.

Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based conjugated copolymers are important organic semiconductors for applications in high-efficiency organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). However, the direct application of these polymers with rigid backbones in stretchable devices has limitations. In this study, we designed and synthesized three kinds of DPPBT-based copolymers, DPPBT-A1, DPPBT-A3, and DPPBT-A5, which have amide-coupled alkylene conjugation breakers capable of hydrogen bonding. Linkers with different segment lengths were copolymerized with DPP and bithiophene (BT) backbone units. A DPP-based copolymer with alternating BT moieties, DPPBT, was synthesized as a reference fully conjugated copolymer. The synthesized polymers with freely rotational backbone linkers have sufficient flexibility to develop ordered phase domains, even in thin films, in comparison to the reference copolymer. However, the introduction of the conjugation breakers, which disconnect the intramolecular π-π overlapping, tends to decrease the hole mobility (μ) from 0.76 to 0.20 cm2 V-1 s-1 in the corresponding OTFT devices. The TFT fabricated using DPPBT-A3 showed a mobility of 0.50 cm2 V-1 s-1, and the mobility value did not show a significant change even when elongated by more than 50%. Therefore, the molecular design strategy of introducing amide-coupled alkylene conjugation breakers into conjugated polymer chains can contribute significantly to the development of high-mobility stretchable conjugated polymers in future.

Achieving ideal transistor characteristics in conjugated polymer semiconductors.

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with ideal behavior are highly desired, because nonideal devices may overestimate the intrinsic property and yield inferior performance in applications. In reality, most polymer OTFTs reported in the literature do not exhibit ideal characteristics. Supported by a structure-property relationship study of several low-disorder conjugated polymers, here, we present an empirical selection rule for polymer candidates for textbook-like OTFTs with high reliability factors (100% for ideal transistors). The successful candidates should have low energetic disorder along their backbones and form thin films with spatially uniform energetic landscapes. We demonstrate that these requirements are satisfied in the semicrystalline polymer PffBT4T-2DT, which exhibits a reliability factor (~100%) that is exceptionally high for polymer devices, rendering it an ideal candidate for OTFT applications. Our findings broaden the selection of polymer semiconductors with textbook-like OTFT characteristics and would shed light upon the molecular design criteria for next-generation polymer semiconductors.

Optimization of Alkyl Side Chain Length in Polyimide for Gate Dielectrics to Achieve High Mobility and Outstanding Operational Stability in Organic Transistors

Alkyl chain modification strategies in both organic semiconductors and inorganic dielectrics play a crucial role in improving the performance of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). Polyimide (PI) and its derivatives have received extensive attention as dielectrics for application in OTFTs because of flexibility, high-temperature resistance, and low cost. However, low-temperature solution processing PI-based gate dielectric for flexible OTFTs with high mobility, low operating voltage, and high operational stability remains an enormous challenge. Furthermore, even though di-n-decyldinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (C10-DNTT) is known to have very high mobility as an air-stable and high-performance organic semiconductor, the C10-DNTT-based TFTs on the PI gate dielectrics still showed relatively low mobility. Here, inspired by alkyl side chain engineering, we design and synthesize a series of PI materials with different alkyl side chain lengths and systematically investigate the PI surface properties and the evolution of organic semiconductor morphology deposited on PI surfaces during the variation of alkyl side chain lengths. It is found that the alkyl side chain length has a critical influence on the PI surface properties, as well as the grain size and molecular orientation of semiconductors. Good field-effect characteristics are obtained with high mobilities (up to 1.05 and 5.22 cm2/Vs, which are some of the best values reported to date), relatively low operating voltage, hysteresis-free behavior, and high operational stability in OTFTs. These results suggest that the strategy of optimizing alkyl side-chain lengths opens up a new research avenue for tuning semiconductor growth to enable high mobility and outstanding operational stability of PI-based OTFTs.

Synthesis of thieno[3,4-c] pyrrole-4,6-dione-based small molecules for application in organic thin-film transistors

The synthesis of two alternating donor-acceptor (D-A) small molecules revolving around thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD) as the main acceptor building block is reported herein. The materials are synthesized using a robust Stille coupling to attach the TPD core with thiophene donors on either of its side, and completed with an aldol condensation under mild conditions for the addition of terminal secondary acceptor building blocks, representing a sought out A2-D-A1-D-A2 structure. The two newly synthesized materials are set to be used as organic semiconductors in organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) devices. Comparative optical, computational, and electrochemical studies were carried out on these new materials to investigate their ability to act as potential n-type organic semiconductors. The materials were then incorporated into bottom-gate bottom-contact OTFT devices, and subsequent thin-film engineering studies were done to probe the effects that solvent and post-deposition annealing conditions had on device performance. From these conditions, the rhodanine-derived D-A material exhibited the greatest electron field-effect mobility (0.011 cm2 V−1 s−1), and a threshold voltage of 20.1 V under vacuum.

Furan functionalized naphthalenediimide semiconductors with different N-alkyl chains for n-type organic thin-film transistor applications

Development of n-type organic semiconductors (OSCs) is necessary in order to develop complementary electronics based on organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). In this investigation, we designed and synthesized a series of four novel imide- and core-substituted naphthalene diimide (NDI) molecules. The molecular architecture was altered via introduction of different alkyl side chains (octyl and 2-ethylhexyl) to the imide-N positions and 2-dicyanomethylene-3-cyano-4,5,5-trimethyl-2,5-dihydrofuran (TCF) to the NDI core. The NDI-TCF derivatives are abbreviated as NDI-TCF1A, NDI-TCF1B, NDI-TCF2A, and NDI-TCF2B, using a “1” or “2” to indicate the number of TCF subunits at the NDI core, and an “A” or a “B” to indicate an octyl or a 2-ethylhexyl alkyl chain at the imide-N position, respectively. All four compounds displayed similar photophysical properties but exhibited different electrochemical properties with lower LUMO levels of −4.25 eV, −4.33 eV, −4.27 eV and −4.35 eV for NDI-TCF1A, NDI-TCF1B, NDI-TCF2A, and NDI-TCF2B, respectively. These LUMO levels suggest a capacity for electron transport. Furthermore, the NDI-TCF chromophores were incorporated into OTFTs and systematically studied on the relationship between the NDI-TCF molecular architecture and electron transport properties. NDI-TCF1A and NDI-TCF1B displayed more consistent OTFT performance than NDI-TCF2A and NDI-TCF2B. NDI-TCF1A and NDI-TCF1B exhibited low threshold voltages (VT) of −0.43 V ± 4.78 V and 6.12 V ± 6.63 V, respectively, electron mobilities (μe) of ca. 3 × 10−5 cm2V−1s−1, and on/off (ION/OFF) ratios of ca. 103. Insofar that TCF facilitates electron transport, the OTFT data suggest that the number of TCF subunits affect OTFT performance via thin-film morphology. The thin-film morphology of NDI-TCF1A, NDI-TCF1B, NDI-TCF2A, and NDI-TCF2B was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique and supported by X-ray diffraction measurements.

1]Benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene-based liquid crystalline organic semiconductor for solution-processed organic thin film transistors

Liquid crystalline organic semiconductors have drawn tremendous interest due to potentials of applications in organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with their high electrical performance and solution-processability. However, alkylated liquid crystals often encounter poor thermal durability and mobility drop at smectic E (SmE) phase. Here, we introduce new solution-processable [1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene-based small molecules with different types of alkyl side chains for OTFTs. All BTBT derivatives showed smectic phase; dialkylated 2-octyl-7-(5′-octyl-[2,2′-bithiophen]-5-yl)benzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (O-2Th-BTBT) and 2-(5′-(2-ethylhexyl)-[2,2′-bithiophen]-5-yl)-7-octylbenzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (E-2Th-BTBT) suffered mobility degradation at SmE phase. However, monoalkylated 2-([2,2′-bithiophen]-5-yl)-7-octylbenzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (2Th-BTBT) did not exhibit SmE phase over temperature range, resulting in high carrier mobility up to 0.31 cm2/Vs through molecular bilayer transition by thermal annealing. Physicochemical and liquid crystal properties were analyzed, and thin film characterization by atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction was discussed.

Organic materials based on hetero polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for organic thin-film transistor applications

The synthesis and characterization of new hetero polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HPAHs) are reported as potential lead molecules in organic semiconductor devices with tetraimidazolo or tetrapyrazolo benzo-fused coronene as the main framework. The incorporation of hetero atoms into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by the Corey-Fuchs reaction followed by photochemical cyclization using iodine has been described for its carrier mobility and hole transport properties. The synthesized coronenes, Tetraimidazocoronene (TIC), Tetraimidazobenzocoronene (TIBC), Tetraimidazodibenzocoronene (TIDBC), Tetrapyrazolocoronene (TPC), Tetrapyrazolobenzocoronene (TPBC), and Tetrapyrazolodibenzocoronene (TPDBC), have good physicochemical properties and are supported with DFT/TDDFT studies. On an ODTS-SiO2 substrate at room temperature, the reported compounds were utilized to fabricate organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) and shown hole mobilities from 0.16 to 0.71 cm2/Vs with an on/off ratio of 102 to 106. Thin-film transistor based on compound 5b as the channel material displays an electron mobility of 1.94 cm2/Vs with an on/off ratio of 102.

Highly stable, low-voltage operable high-mobility flexible organic thin-film transistors based on a tri-layer gate dielectric

The application fields of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) depend on their field-effect mobility (μ). The low-voltage operation and good operating stability are the prerequisites for the practical applications of OTFTs. To date, it is still a huge challenge to obtain low-voltage operable OTFTs with high μ and good operating stability at the same time. In this work, we elaborately design and process a tri-layer gate dielectric, for pursuing the low-voltage operable, high-performance flexible OTFTs. The effects of the gate dielectrics on the device performances and the relevant mechanisms are discussed in detail. The tri-layer gate dielectric has a large gate capacitance per unit area, and simultaneously suppresses the polarization effect of the gate dielectric and the charge trapping at the interface and bulk of the gate dielectric, by which both the μ and the operating stability are significantly improved. As a result, the flexible OTFTs exhibit excellent figures of merit at low operating voltages below 4 V, with high μ up to 2.6 cm2 Vs−1, good bias stress stability with a negligible change of the channel current for 5000 s, and good mechanical flexibility with a negligible performance degradation after the tension bending for 1000 times at small curvature radii of both 5.0 mm and 3.0 mm in sequence. Our works provide a strategy for developing the high-performance flexible OTFTs with low-voltage operation, high μ and good operating stability simultaneously.

Nitrogen-Containing Perylene Diimides: Molecular Design, Robust Aggregated Structures, and Advances in n-Type Organic Semiconductors.

ConspectusOrganic semiconductors (OSCs) have attracted much attention because of their potential applications for flexible and printed electronic devices and thus have been extensively investigated in a variety of research fields, such as organic chemistry, solid-state physics, and device physics and engineering. Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs), a class of OSC-based devices, have been expected to be an alternative of silicon-based metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), which is the indispensable element for most of the current electronic devices. However, the noncovalently aggregated, van der Waals solid nature of the OSCs, by contrast to covalently bound silicon, conventionally exhibits lower carrier mobilities, limiting the practical applications of OTFTs. In particular, electron-transporting (i.e., n-type) OSCs lag behind their hole-transporting (p-type) counterparts in carrier mobility and ambient stability as OTFTs. This is primarily because of the difficulty in achieving compatibility between the aggregated structure exhibiting excellent carrier mobility and that with enough electron affinity. Recent understandings of carrier transport in OSCs explain that large and two-dimensionally isotropic transfer integrals coupled with small fluctuations are crucial for high carrier mobilities. In addition, from a practical point of view, the compatibility with practical device processes is highly required. Rational molecular design principles, therefore, are still demanded for developing OSCs and OTFTs toward high-end device applications.Herein, we will show our recent progress in the development of n-type OSCs with the key π-electron core (π-core) of benzo[de]isoquinolino[1,8-gh]quinolinetetracarboxylic diimide (BQQDI) on the basis of single-crystal OTFT technologies and the band-transport model enabled by two-dimensional molecular packing arrangements. The critical point is the introduction of electronegative nitrogen atoms into the π-core: the nitrogen atoms in BQQDI not only deepen the molecular orbital energies but also allow hydrogen-bonding-like attractive intermolecular interactions to control the aggregated structures, unlike the conventional role of the nitrogen introduced into OSCs only for the former role. Hence, the BQQDI analogues exhibit air-stable OTFT behavior and two-dimensional brickwork packing structures. Specifically, phenethyl-substituted analogue (PhC2-BQQDI) has been shown as the first principal BQQDI-based material, demonstrating solution-processable thin-film single crystals, fewer anisotropic transfer integrals, and an effective suppression of molecular motions, leading to band-like electron-transport properties and stress-durable n-channel OTFT performances, in conjunction with the support of computational calculations. Insights into more fundamental points of view have been found by side-chain derivatization and OTFT studies on polycrystalline and single-crystal films. We hope that this Account provides readers with new strategies for designing high-performance OSCs by two-dimensional control of the aggregated structures.

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The organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) based biosensors are an essential platform for facile and effective biosensing applications. Recently, S. Cheng and W. Hu et. al have reviewed the wide applications of OTFTs based biosensors for health or body signal monitoring and various analytes determination such as ions, glucose, nucleic acids, proteins, and cells in their manuscript 10.1002/eom2.12094. image

Optimizing the plasma oxidation of aluminum gate electrodes for ultrathin gate oxides in organic transistors

A critical requirement for the application of organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) in mobile or wearable applications is low-voltage operation, which can be achieved by employing ultrathin, high-capacitance gate dielectrics. One option is a hybrid dielectric composed of a thin film of aluminum oxide and a molecular self-assembled monolayer in which the aluminum oxide is formed by exposure of the surface of the aluminum gate electrode to a radio-frequency-generated oxygen plasma. This work investigates how the properties of such dielectrics are affected by the plasma power and the duration of the plasma exposure. For various combinations of plasma power and duration, the thickness and the capacitance of the dielectrics, the leakage-current density through the dielectrics, and the current–voltage characteristics of organic TFTs in which these dielectrics serve as the gate insulator have been evaluated. The influence of the plasma parameters on the surface properties of the dielectrics, the thin-film morphology of the vacuum-deposited organic-semiconductor films, and the resulting TFT characteristics has also been investigated.

PECVD Silicon Oxynitride as Insulator for MDMO-PPV Thin-Film Transistors

We demonstrate that PECVD SiOxNy with good dielectric properties can replace thermally grown SiO2 in Organic Thin-Film Transistors (OTFT) applications. It can be used on ITO-covered glass or even flexible substrates. Poly [2-methoxy-5-(3’,7’-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV) is used as the active layer, due to its wide range of applications such as bulk heterojunction solar cells, light-emitting diodes and light-emitting transistors.We show that charge carrier mobility can be at least two times higher for MDMO-PPV on silicon oxynitride than silicon dioxide, μh 1.1x10-4 cm2/Vs. MDMO-PPV spun from solvents such as chloroform and toluene provide comparable TFT performance on SiOxNy. Preliminary studies of devices with hexamethyldisilazane-treated SiO2 demonstrate that performance can be further improved by the choice of a proper surface treatment.

Facile synthesis and optoelectronic properties of thienopyrroledione based conjugated polymer for organic field effect transistors

Herein we present the synthesis and application of a prominent polymer solar cell (PSC) donor-acceptor (D-A) based material (PBDTHTPD) constituted of thiophene -benzo [1, 2-b: 4, 5-b′] dithiophene (BDT) and thienopyrroledione (TPD) as a potential active layer for organic thin film transistor (OFETs) application. The material synthesized via microwave stille coupling was characterized and applied as an active layer in a PMMA gated OFET device. Intrinsically, the polymer exhibits appreciable thermal steadiness of 382 °C, and showed UV–vis spectrum ranging from 300 nm up to 800 nm, affording an optical band gap of 1.86 eV. Energy level of this material assessed by cyclic voltammetry analysis showed both HOMO and LUMO levels of −4.98 eV and −3.12 eV, respectively for this novel organic semiconductor. Top-Gate/Bottom Contact (TG-BC) layout, based on the polymer demonstrated a p-type characteristics with maximum field-effect mobility (μmax) of 9.68 × 10−5 cm2v−1s−1.

Investigation of the Performance of Poly(Methyl-Acrylate) as a Gate Dielectric in Organic Thin-Film Transistors

In this study, we present two regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (rr-P3HT)-based top-gate bottom-contact configured organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) using poly(α-methyl acrylate) (PMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymers separately as gate insulators for comparison. In order to compare only the performance of the dielectrics, the other parts of the devices were kept qualitatively and quantitatively identical. Unlike PMMA, PMA is flexible, and flexibility is a desirable property for an OTFT. Thus, utilizing PMA can be advantageous if it supports higher performance of the transistor. In this respect, the electronic parameters of the fabricated devices were extracted from transfer and output characteristics to determine the performance of PMA in OTFT applications. Results showed that the mobility of the OTFT with PMA (PMA-OTFT) was nearly three times greater than that of the OTFT with PMMA (PMMA-OTFT), while the PMA-OTFT threshold voltage (VTH) was slightly less than that of the PMMA-OTFT, which was likely because of the greater effective capacitance (CEFF) of the PMA layer compared to that of the PMMA layer. This is the main advantage of the PMA. On the other hand, the major downside is found in the reduced on-to-off current (ION/IOFF) and increased subthreshold swing originating from a huge off-current (IOFF), implying the existence of a large gate leakage current. Increasing the thickness of the PMA layer could reduce such large gate leakage current. However, this would lead to additional increase in the OTFT operating voltage. Therefore, further studies are required to improve the insulating property of the PMA polymer in order to substitute it for the PMMA.

Quinoidal dicyanomethylene-endcapped cyclopentadithiophenes as vacuum-processable n-type semiconductors

A series of new quinoidal cyclopentadithiophene-based vacuum-processable n-type semiconductors were synthesized and characterized, followed by their successful application in organic thin-film transistors and initial studies in organic solar cells.

Thiophene backbone-based polymers with electron-withdrawing pendant groups for application in organic thin-film transistors

The suboptimal molecular ordering of by PF2-BDD quick freezing during hot-solution spin-coating hindered an efficient hole transport, whereas the more crystalline structure of PT2-BDD resulted in higher hole mobility in the corresponding OTFT.

Sinteza in karakterizacija bakrovega perfluoroftalocianina (F16CuPc) in njegova uporaba v organskih tankoplastnih tranzistorjih

Sinteza in karakterizacija bakrovega perfluoroftalocianina (F16CuPc) in njegova uporaba v organskih tankoplastnih tranzistorjih

Chemical Sensing Platforms Based on Organic Thin-Film Transistors Functionalized with Artificial Receptors.

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) have attracted intense attention as promising electronic devices owing to their various applications such as rollable active-matrix displays, flexible nonvolatile memories, and radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags. To further broaden the scope of the application of OTFTs, we focus on the host-guest chemistry combined with the electronic devices. Extended-gate types of OTFTs functionalized with artificial receptors were fabricated to achieve chemical sensing of targets in complete aqueous media. Organic and inorganic ions (cations and anions), neutral molecules, and proteins, which are regarded as target analytes in the field of host-guest chemistry, were electrically detected by artificial receptors. Molecular recognition phenomena on the extended-gate electrode were evaluated by several analytical methods such as photoemission yield spectroscopy in the air, contact angle goniometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Interestingly, the electrical responses of the OTFTs were highly sensitive to the chemical structures of the guests. Thus, the OTFTs will facilitate the selective sensing of target analytes and the understanding of chemical conversions in biological and environmental systems. Furthermore, such cross-reactive responses observed in our studies will provide some important insights into next-generation sensing systems such as OTFT arrays. We strongly believe that our approach will enable the development of new intriguing sensor platforms in the field of host-guest chemistry, analytical chemistry, and organic electronics.

Introducing a Nonvolatile N‐Type Dopant Drastically Improves Electron Transport in Polymer and Small‐Molecule Organic Transistors

AbstractMolecular doping is a powerful yet challenging technique for enhancing charge transport in organic semiconductors (OSCs). While there is a wealth of research on p‐type dopants, work on their n‐type counterparts is comparatively limited. Here, reported is the previously unexplored n‐dopant (12a,18a)‐5,6,12,12a,13,18,18a,19‐octahydro‐5,6‐dimethyl‐ 13,18[1′,2′]‐benzenobisbenzimidazo [1,2‐b:2′,1′‐d]benzo[i][2.5]benzodiazo‐cine potassium triflate adduct (DMBI‐BDZC) and its application in organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs). Two different high electron mobility OSCs, namely, the polymer poly[[N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐naphthalene‐1,4,5,8‐ bis(dicarboximide)‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐5,5′‐(2′‐bithiophene)] and a small‐molecule naphthalene diimides fused with 2‐(1,3‐dithiol‐2‐ylidene)malononitrile groups (NDI‐DTYM2) are used to study the effectiveness of DMBI‐BDZC as a n‐dopant. N‐doping of both semiconductors results in OTFTs with improved electron mobility (up to 1.1 cm2 V−1 s−1), reduced threshold voltage and lower contact resistance. The impact of DMBI‐BDZC incorporation is particularly evident in the temperature dependence of the electron transport, where a significant reduction in the activation energy due to trap deactivation is observed. Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements support the n‐doping activity of DMBI‐BDZC in both semiconductors. This finding is corroborated by density functional theory calculations, which highlights ground‐state electron transfer as the main doping mechanism. The work highlights DMBI‐BDZC as a promising n‐type molecular dopant for OSCs and its application in OTFTs, solar cells, photodetectors, and thermoelectrics.