High-performance flexible organic field effect transistors with print-based nanowires

Liangkun Lu; Dazhi Wang; Changchang Pu; Yanyan Cao; Yikang Li; Pengfei Xu; Xiangji Chen; Chang Liu; Shiwen Liang; Liujia Suo; Yan Cui; Zhiyuan Zhao; Yunlong Guo; Junsheng Liang; Yunqi Liu

doi:10.1038/s41378-023-00551-x

High-performance flexible organic field effect transistors with print-based nanowires

Microsyst Nanoeng. 2023 Jun 13:9:80. doi: 10.1038/s41378-023-00551-x. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liangkun Lu¹, Dazhi Wang^{1

2

3}, Changchang Pu¹, Yanyan Cao⁴, Yikang Li¹, Pengfei Xu¹, Xiangji Chen¹, Chang Liu¹, Shiwen Liang³, Liujia Suo¹, Yan Cui¹, Zhiyuan Zhao⁴, Yunlong Guo⁴, Junsheng Liang¹, Yunqi Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Micro/Nano Technology and System of Liaoning Province, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024 China.
² State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Precision Manufacturing, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
³ Ningbo Institute of Dalian University of Technology, Ningbo, 315000 China.
⁴ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190 China.

Abstract

Polymer nanowire (NW) organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) integrated on highly aligned large-area flexible substrates are candidate structures for the development of high-performance flexible electronics. This work presents a universal technique, coaxial focused electrohydrodynamic jet (CFEJ) printing technology, to fabricate highly aligned 90-nm-diameter polymer arrays. This method allows for the preparation of uniformly shaped and precisely positioned nanowires directly on flexible substrates without transfer, thus ensuring their electrical properties. Using indacenodithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole (IDT-BT) and poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8-BT) as example materials, 5 cm² arrays were prepared with only minute size variations, which is extremely difficult to do using previously reported methods. According to 2D-GIXRD analysis, the molecules inside the nanowires mainly adopted face-on π-stacking crystallite arrangements. This is quite different from the mixed arrangement of thin films. Nanowire-based OFETs exhibited a high average hole mobility of 1.1 cm² V^-1 s^-1 and good device uniformity, indicating the applicability of CFEJ printing as a potential batch manufacturing and integration process for high-performance, scalable polymer nanowire-based OFET circuits. This technique can be used to fabricate various polymer arrays, enabling the use of organic polymer semiconductors in large-area, high-performance electronic devices and providing a new path for the fabrication of flexible displays and wearable electronics in the future.

Keywords: Electrical and electronic engineering; Electronic devices.