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In this study, the conducting channel in poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) organic field effect transistors (OFETs) was investigated. The effect of varying the P3HT layer thickness on the OFET parameters was studied. The threshold voltage and the field effect mobility were determined from both the linear and saturation regime of the OFET output characteristics for all film thicknesses and the results are compared and discussed. A gated four probe technique was used to investigate the formation and evolution of the conducting channel by monitoring changes in potential at different points in the channel during measurement. It was found that the device performance of the OFETs was significantly influenced by the thickness of the P3HT layer. Bulk currents were found to dominate device performance for thicker P3HT layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hole mobility of a semiconducting film with a new type of small molecule has been determined by electrical characterization with two different device geometries. The small molecule, namely Zn(OC)2, consists of oxadiazole groups (O), that act as electron conductor and blue emitter, and carbazole groups (C), that are hole conductors, which are arranged around a central Zn-atom. This disordered organic material has in principal ambipolar conduction properties. In both the organic devices investigated, that is, a vertical diode and a bottom-gate organic field effect transistor, the transport is dominated by holes. In the diode structure, the charge carrier transport shows a dependence from the electric field with a space charge limited current characteristic. The hole mobility value is several orders of magnitude higher as compared to the one extracted from the characteristics of the organic transistor. This large difference in the charge carrier transport properties for the two different device configurations is due to the strong influence of the dielectric/semiconductor interface which degrades the hole transport in the organic field effect transistor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical design of a polymer can be tailored by a random or a block sequence of the comonomers in order to influence the properties of the final material. In this work, two sequences, PCPDTBT and F8BT (F8), were polymerized to form a block or a random copolymer. Differences between the various polymers were examined by exploring the surface topography and charge carrier mobility. A distinct surface texture and a higher charge carrier mobility was found for the block copolymer with respect to the other materials. Solar cells were prepared with polymer:PC71BM blend active layers and the best performance of up to 2% was found for the block copolymer, which was a direct result of the fill factor. Overall, the sequences of different copolymers for solar cell applications were varied and a positive impact on efficiency was found when the block copolymer structure was utilized. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we demonstrate how the intrinsic properties of a polymer can influence the electrical characteristics of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). OFETs fabricated with three batches of poly[2-methoxy,5-(3′,7′-dimethyl-octyloxy)]- p-phenylene vinylene (MDMO-PPV) were investigated. The properties of the polymers were initially investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), impedance spectroscopy (IS), gel permeation chromotography (GPC), and cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. The structure and purity of the polymer batches were found to be very comparable, but the molecular weight ( Mn and Mw) and polydispersity (PDI = Mw/ Mn), varied between the samples and the HOMO and LUMO levels of the polymers were found to depend on the molecular weight properties. OFETs were then fabricated with the polymers and electrically characterized. It was observed that the channel current and the field-effect mobility increase with increasing polymer molecular weight. The output characteristics of the transistors, on the other hand, were found to depend on the PDI of the polymer. Saturation of the channel current occurs at higher source-drain voltages and short-channel behavior was observed to start at longer channel lengths for polymers with a higher PDI. This behavior is observed to be thickness dependent, and the short-channel behavior was more pronounced for thicker MDMO-PPV films. These results are explained in terms of influences of chain packing and ordering and high bulk currents on the FET output and transistor parameters. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 50: 117-124, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]