Charge transport in an organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) is controlled by many factors such as molecular packing in the
semiconductor material and the contact property at the source/drain electrode. One approach utilizes an alignment layer
to influence the molecular packing. Charge transport becomes anisotropic. However, additional processes are required
to form such a structured layer. Solution processes offer more pathways in influencing the molecular packing. These
include the use of solvent mixtures for adjusting the evaporation-induced flows, the temperature gradient in molten
materials, drop-casting on tilted substrates, and other flow-induced processes. Common to these approaches is the fact
that some forms of forces introduce directionality in semiconductor materials. Here, we propose to agitate organic
molecules in a solution by applying ultrasound vibrations during the solvent evaporation. The vibration would translate
and rotate the molecules and this might introduce ordering in the organic layer when the solvent evaporation is
completed. In experiment, we fabricated bottom-contact polymer transistors by dispensing a poly(3-
hexylthiophene)/1,2,4-trichlorobenzene solution on a substrate and subsequently drying it in a container immersed in an
ultrasound bath. The average field effect mobility of the transistors prepared from a 0.1wt% solution with 30-min
ultrasound vibration was 2.5 times higher than that of the control devices prepared without the vibration. We attribute
this result to enhanced ordering of the P3HT molecules in the vibrated solution. Atomic-force microscope observation
revealed longer polymer chains for the samples prepared with the vibration. We attribute this mobility enhancement to
changes in molecular packing during the solvent evaporation.
There is a continuing interest in improving electrical characteristics of an organic thin-film transistor (OTFT). One can
accomplish this by controlling molecular orientations of semiconductor materials in the vicinities of an insulating layer
as well as an electrode material. First, it is widely known that a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is effective for this
purpose. Second, a thin structured layer underneath an organic semiconductor material is effective for aligning the
organic molecules in a specific direction. Irradiating azobenzene compounds with ultraviolet light converts trans isomers
into cis-forms. When exposed to linearly-polarized ultraviolet light, the difference in the absorbance between the two
isomers leads to a state where the azobenzene molecules are aligned perpendicular to the polarization direction of the
ultraviolet light. Such a photo-alignment layer results in anisotropic charge transport in an OTFT and the current flow
along the channel direction is enhanced. In principle, we expect that combination of these two technologies (SAM and
photo-alignment) would further improve the current flow in OTFTs. In experiment, we synthesized a compound 4-(3-
(trichlorosilyl)propoxy)azobenzene (Azo-SAM) and used this material to align an organic semiconductor poly(3-
hexylthiophene) (P3HT). We formed the Azo-SAM on a glass substrate, spin-coated a P3HT/1, 2, 4-trichlorobenzene
solution, annealed in nitrogen atmosphere and exposed it to linearly-polarized ultraviolet light. Absorbance spectroscopy
in the visible range revealed anisotropy in the two samples exposed to the two polarization directions orthogonal to each
other. Fabrication of organic transistors with this photo-alignment SAM is under way.
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