Donor-acceptor copolymers and sol-gel processable zinc oxide for thin film transistors and hybrid photodetectors

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Organic semiconductors have been gaining attention both in research and commercial development for electronic devices due to their low manufacturing and processing costs. Copolymers based on diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) cores have attracted a lot of attention due to their high p-type as well as n-type carrier mobilities in organic field-effect transistors (FETs) and high power conversion efficiencies in solar cell structures. Hybrid organic-inorganic photodiode interfaces have also gained significant interest due to the realization of intrinsic p-n junctions as well as their unique physical properties such as mechanical flexibility and high photosensitivity. ZnO is an intrinsic n-type semiconductor which is non-toxic and sol-gel processable, creating avenues for film patterning and fully solution processed devices. In this work, we report the structural and charge transport properties of n-dialkyl side-chain substituted thiophene DPP end-capped with a phenyl group (Ph-TDPP-Ph) monomer in FETs which were fabricated by vacuum deposition and solvent casting. From grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), Ph-TDPP-Ph reveals polymorphic structure with [pi]-conjugated stacking direction oriented in-plane. The unit cell comprises either one monomer for one phase (TR1), or two monomers for the second phase (TR2). The TR2 phase thus signals a shift from a coplanar to herringbone orientation of the molecules. The device performance is sensitive to the ratio of the two triclinic phases found in the film. Some of the best FET performances with p-type carrier mobilities of 0.1 cm2/Vs and on/off ratio of 10[superscript 6] are for films that comprise mainly the TR1 phase.