Abstract
Incorporating the molecular organic Lewis acid tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane [B(C6 F5 )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(C6 F5 )3 with the latter serving as the prototypical air-stable molecular Lewis acid system. Herein, the use of bis(pentafluorophenyl)zinc [Zn(C6 F5 )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(C6 F5 )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 cm2 V-1 s-1 . The work not only highlights Zn(C6 F5 )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.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1900871 |
Journal | Advanced Materials |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 27 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 10 2019 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: T.D.A., A.F.P., A.B., H.F., and M.R.N. acknowledge the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for financial support. R.L. used CMS beamline of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under contract No. DE-SC0012704. L.T. acknowledges support for the computational time granted from GRNET in the National HPC facility—ARIS—under project STEM. M.H. and J.P. thank EPRSC (EP/L016702/1) and the Royal Society for their support.