Mobility anisotropy in the herringbone structure of asymmetric Ph-BTBT-10 in solution sheared thin film transistors

Abstract

Thin films of the organic semiconductor Ph-BTBT-10 and blends of this material with polystyrene have been deposited by a solution shearing technique at low (1 mm s⁻¹) and high (10 mm s⁻¹) coating velocities and implemented in organic field-effect transistors. Combined X-ray diffraction and electrical characterisation studies prove that the films coated at low speed are significantly anisotropic. The highest mobility is found along the coating direction, which corresponds to the crystallographic a-axis. In contrast, at high coating speed the films are crystallographically less ordered but with better thin film homogeneity and exhibit isotropic electrical characteristics. Best mobilities are found in films prepared at high coating speeds with the blended semiconductor. This work demonstrates the interplay between the crystal packing and thin film morphology and uniformity and their impact on the device performance.