Tuning charge transport in organic semiconductors with nanoparticles and hexamethyldisilazane

Zhengran He, Ziyang Zhang, Sheng Bi, Jihua Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, we showcase the use of silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) treatment to regulate the thin film morphology and manipulate charge transport of solution-processed, small-molecular, organic semiconductors. 6,13-Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS pentacene) was blended with SiO2 nanoparticles as an exemplary organic semiconductor. A higher concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles were observed near the edge of TIPS pentacene crystals and enlarged the width of crystal edges. This greatly reduced the dendritic crystal growth pattern of TIPS pentacene and contributed to its enhanced orientation uniformity. In addition, the HMDS treatment effectively passivated the silanol groups on the hydrophilic gate dielectrics. As a result, bottom-gate, top-contact TIPS pentacene/SiO2 nanoparticle-based organic thin-film transistors boosted a performance consistency enhancement (defined by the ratio of average mobility to the standard deviation of mobility). The combinational approach to employ SiO2 nanoparticles and HMDS treatment as demonstrated in this work sheds light on important applications in high-performance organic electronics devices on flexible substrate.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5
JournalJournal of Nanoparticle Research
Volume23
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2021

Funding

Z. He would like to acknowledge the support from the University of Alabama. S. Bi would like to thank the support by the Science and Technology Project of Liaoning Province (20180540006). A part of this research was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

Keywords

  • Hexamethyldisilazane treatment
  • Nanoparticles
  • Organic thin film transistors
  • TIPS pentacene
  • Thin film morphology

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