Korean researchers hold out promise of ultra-low cost flexible display
The characteristics of these organic thin film transistors(OTFTs) depend on organic semiconductors. There are two types of polymer-organic semiconductors: ambipolar and unipolar ones, the researchers say.
Circuits made from unipolar semiconductors are high in electricity resistance, and low in mobility and stability. Through a combination of improved semiconducting polymer design and fabrication techniques, progress has been achieved in enhancing the charge carrier mobility of organic thin-film transistors. However, novel ambipolar polymers with better performance and further advances in fabrication processes are still required to truly realize practical organic integrated circuits.
The research team developed a dithienyl-diketopyrrolopyrrole (TDPP) and selenophene containing polymer with hybrid siloxane-solubilizing groups (PTDPPSe-Si). A synergistic combination of rational polymer backbone design, side-chain dynamics, and solution processing affords an enormous boost in ambipolar TFT performance. The resulting polymer exhibited unprecedentedly high hole and electron mobilities in solution-sheared polymer films. “To the best of our knowledge, these are the highest recorded hole and electron mobilities for organic- or polymer-based ambipolar TFTs reported to date” said the research team.