Oxygen‐Induced Lattice Strain for High‐Performance Organic Transistors with Enhanced Stability

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2023-12, Vol.35 (52), p.e2306975-n/a
• Main Authors: Sun, Shougang, Zhu, Jie, Wang, Zhongwu, Huang, Yinan, Hu, Yongxu, Chen, Xiaosong, Sun, Yajing, Li, Liqiang, Hu, Wenping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Compressive properties; Contact resistance; Coupling (molecular); Electronic materials; Field effect transistors; Figure of merit; Lattice strain; organic semiconductor; Organic semiconductors; organic transistors; Oxygen; stability; Thermal stability
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202306975

Integrating the merits of low cost, flexibility, and large‐area processing, organic semiconductors (OSCs) are promising candidates for the next‐generation electronic materials. The mobility and stability are the key figures of merit for its practical application. However, it is greatly challenging to improve the mobility and stability simultaneously owing to the weak interactions and poor electronic coupling between OSCs molecules. Here, an oxygen‐induced lattice strain (OILS) strategy is developed to achieve OSCs with both high mobility and high stability. Utilizing the strategy, the maximum mobility of dinaphtho[2,3‐b:2′,3′‐f]thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene (DNTT) organic field‐effect transistor (OFET) rises to 15.3 cm2 V−1 s−1 and the contact resistance lowers to 25.5 Ω cm. Remarkably, the thermal stability of DNTT is much improved, and a record saturated power density of ≈3.4 × 104 W cm−2 is obtained. Both the experiments and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the lattice compressive strain induced by oxygen is responsible for their high performance and stability. Furthermore, the universality of the strategy is manifested in both n‐type and p‐type small OSCs. This work provides a novel strategy to improve both the mobility and the stability of OSCs, paving the way for the practical applications of organic devices. Oxygen‐induced lattice strain (OILS) strategy is developed to achieve organic semiconductors (OSCs) with both high mobility and high stability. The introduction of oxygen (O2) into OSC crystals will generate lattice compressive strain that increases the orbital overlap between adjacent molecules. Consequently, organic field‐effect transistors based on OILS OSCs show high mobility and high stability with a record saturated power density 3.4 × 104 W cm−2.