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Fullerene Additives Convert Ambipolar Transport to p‐Type Transport while Improving the Operational Stability of Organic Thin Film Transistors
Author(s) -
Ford Michael J.,
Wang Ming,
Phan Hung,
Nguyen ThucQuyen,
Bazan Guillermo C.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201601294
Subject(s) - ambipolar diffusion , materials science , fullerene , thin film transistor , nanotechnology , thin film , transistor , organic semiconductor , organic electronics , optoelectronics , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , plasma , electrical engineering , layer (electronics) , chemistry , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics , voltage
Many high charge carrier mobility ( μ ) active layers within organic field‐effect transistor (OFET) configurations exhibit non‐linear current–voltage characteristics that may drift with time under applied bias and, when applying conventional equations for ideal FETs, may give inconsistent μ values. This study demonstrates that the introduction of electron deficient fullerene acceptors into thin films comprised of the high‐mobility semiconducting polymer PCDTPT suppresses an undesirable “double‐slope” in the current–voltage characteristics, improves operational stability, and changes ambipolar transport to unipolar transport. Examination of other high μ polymers shows general applicability. This study also shows that one can further reduce instability by tuning the relative electron affinity of the polymer and fullerene by creating blends containing different fullerene derivatives and semiconductor polymers. One can obtain hole μ values up to 5.6 cm 2 V –1 s –1 that are remarkably stable over multiple bias‐sweeping cycles. The results provide a simple, solution‐processable route to dictate transport properties and improve semiconductor durability in systems that display similar non‐idealities.