Premium
Addition of the Lewis Acid Zn(C 6 F 5 ) 2 Enables Organic Transistors with a Maximum Hole Mobility in Excess of 20 cm 2 V −1 s −1
Author(s) -
Paterson Alexandra F.,
Tsetseris Leonidas,
Li Ruipeng,
Basu Aniruddha,
Faber Hendrik,
Emwas AbdulHamid,
Panidi Julianna,
Fei Zhuping,
Niazi Muhammad R.,
Anjum Dalaver H.,
Heeney Martin,
Anthopoulos Thomas D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201900871
Subject(s) - materials science , lewis acids and bases , dopant , electron mobility , thin film transistor , oled , organic semiconductor , organic electronics , benzothiophene , optoelectronics , transistor , diode , nanotechnology , doping , organic chemistry , thiophene , chemistry , electrical engineering , catalysis , layer (electronics) , engineering , voltage
Abstract Incorporating the molecular organic Lewis acid tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane [B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ] into organic semiconductors has shown remarkable promise in recent years for controlling the operating characteristics and performance of various opto/electronic devices, including, light‐emitting diodes, solar cells, and organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs). Despite the demonstrated potential, however, to date most of the work has been limited to B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 with the latter serving as the prototypical air‐stable molecular Lewis acid system. Herein, the use of bis(pentafluorophenyl)zinc [Zn(C 6 F 5 ) 2 ] is reported as an alternative Lewis acid additive in high‐hole‐mobility OTFTs based on small‐molecule:polymer blends comprising 2,7‐dioctyl[1]benzothieno [3,2‐b][1]benzothiophene and indacenodithiophene–benzothiadiazole. Systematic analysis of the materials and device characteristics supports the hypothesis that Zn(C 6 F 5 ) 2 acts simultaneously as a p ‐dopant and a microstructure modifier. It is proposed that it is the combination of these synergistic effects that leads to OTFTs with a maximum hole mobility value of 21.5 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . The work not only highlights Zn(C 6 F 5 ) 2 as a promising new additive for next‐generation optoelectronic devices, but also opens up new avenues in the search for high‐mobility organic semiconductors.