Enhancing Gating Performance in Organic Molecular Field-Effect Transistors by Introducing Polar Azulene Components

Chemistry. 2023 Nov 21;29(65):e202301294. doi: 10.1002/chem.202301294. Epub 2023 Oct 17.

Abstract

Organic molecular field-effect transistors (FETs) are promising building components for future electronic circuits. Efficient control of charge transport properties is one key issue in the design of organic molecular FETs. In this study, we propose a redesign of a naphthalene-based FET by introducing two azulene components in opposite dipole moment directions. Using density functional theory combined with non-equilibrium Green's function, the simulated electronic transport characteristics reveal that the introduction of polar azulene components effectively narrows the frontier molecular orbitals gap, leading to an increase in the ON-state current. Meanwhile, the OFF-state current is significantly suppressed by highly localizing the dominant electronic transport channel. As a result, improved gate controllability is achieved with a higher ON-OFF current ratio, which is nearly seven times higher than that of the naphthalene-based FET device. These findings provide theoretical directions for future design of organic molecular FET devices with enhanced gating regulation efficiency.

Keywords: density functional theory; electron transport property; field-effect transistor; molecular electronics; non-equilibrium Green's function.