Le but de cette thèse est d'étudier l'effet de l’alignement et le contrôle de la morphologie de films minces de polythiophènes et de les corréler avec les propriétés optiques, de transport de charges et thermoélectriques. Puisque les polymères semiconducteurs sont intrinsèquement anisotropes, il est essentiel de les aligner afin de comprendre leur propriétés. Cette étude a été réalisée en employant deux techniques qui ont permises d’obtenir des films minces orientés. Le brossage à haute température et la cristallisation épitaxiale directionnelle (CED) ont conduit à des films de polythiophène hautement orientés avec des paramètres d'ordre allant jusqu'à 0.87 et des taux de crystallinité jusqu'à 65%. La technique de brossage nous a permis de contrôler avec précision les tailles des domaines cristallins dans des films de P3HT brossés. Par cette méthode, nous avons pu également déterminer les températures de fusion à l'équilibre de différents poly(3-alkyl-thiophène). Nous avons appris que la largeur de bande du couplage excitonique W dépend des dimensions des cristaux dans les films minces brossés. Cette étude à aussi montrer l’importance de la planarité des chaînes pontant les domaines cristallins à travers les zones amorphes sur les propriétés de transport de charges. Nous avons également mis en évidence la morphologie particulière du poly (3-butylthiophène) (P3BT) et le rôle des groupements butyles. La méthode de cristallisation epitaxialle a été utilisée pour orienter des films de poly(3-dioctylphenyl-thiophène) (PDOPT). Nous avons examiné l'effet de la masse moléculaire du PDOPT sur le degré de cristallinité et l'alignement. Ceci nous a permis de proposer un modèle structural montrant l’absence de pi-stacking dans ce polythiophène. Finalement, nous proposons une méthode en deux étapes d’élaboration de films minces conducteurs alignés. Le brossage des films puis le dopage des polymères semiconducteurs de type-P a permis d’obtenir des propriétés thermoélectriques anisotropes améliorées.Cette thèse démontre l'importance du contrôle de la morphologie et de l'alignement des polymères semiconducteurs et conducteurs pour comprendre leurs propriétés fortement anisotropes. / The aim of this thesis is to study the effect of alignment and morphological control on polythiophene thin films and to correlate this control with the optical, charge transport and thermoelectric properties. Since semiconducting polymers are inherently anisotropic by nature, studying these polymers in the aligned state was essential to understand their properties. This study could be achieved by employing two techniques that are successful in orienting polymers in thin films. High-temperature rubbing (HTR) along with directional epitaxial crystallization (DEC) produced highly oriented polythiophene thin films with order parameters reaching 0.87 and crystallinities up to 65%. HTR was a successful method to control crystal sizes in rubbed poly(3-hexyl-thiophene) P3HT films. By this method, the equilibrium melting temperatures of other poly(3-alkyl-thiophene) P3ATs were calculated. We learned that the free excitonic bandwidth depends on the crystal dimensions in the rubbed thin films. We also learned that the planarity of tie-chains linking consecutive crystalline domains plays a very important role in field-effect mobility. We also discuss the peculiar morphology of poly(3-butyl-thiophene) (P3BT) and the role of the butyl side groups. Then DEC method was proposed to orient poly(3-dioctylphenyl-thiophene) (PDOPT) thin films. We examined the effect of molecular weight of PDOPT on the level of crystallinity and alignment. Consequently, this relation provided fundamental information that helped us refine the crystal structure of PDOPT. Finally, a versatile method to produce highly aligned conducting polymers was proposed. HTR followed by P-type doping proved to be an excellent way to produce highly aligned conducting thin films with enhanced thermoelectric properties. This thesis brings value to the importance of morphology control and the alignment of semiconducting thin films to understand the various properties of these highly anisotropic systems.

Les transistors organiques à effet de champ (OFETs) ont aujourd’hui des performances qui permettent d’envisager la réalisation de circuits électroniques plus ou moins complexes. Cependant, ces dispositifs doivent encore être améliorés en termes de performance et de stabilité sous air avant d’être commercialisés. Le premier objectif de cette thèse est de réaliser des OFETs stables à l’air avec des performances atteignant l’état de l’art, tout en simplifiant leur procédé de fabrication. Le dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT),petite molécule référence, a été choisie comme couche active des dispositifs pour chaque étude. En insérant une couche interfaciale d’oxyde entre le matériau de contact et le SCO de nos OFETs, une étude a été menée sur la réduction de la résistance de contact, qui affecte la mobilité effective des porteurs de charge mais peut également compliquer l’élaboration de circuits. Dans le but de réaliser des OFETs sur substrats flexibles opérant à de faibles tensions,un travail a été réalisé sur le dépôt d’un diélectrique à forte capacité dont la surface a ensuite été passivée et lissée par un polymère. Les transistors de type p obtenus présentent des performances hautes en termes de mobilité (2,4 cm2.V-1.s-1) et de ratio des courant On/Off (>106) avec une faible tension de seuil et aucune hystérésis. Le second objectif a été de réaliser des simulations sur ces OFETs optimisés avec le logiciel GoldenGate dans l’environnement Cadence Virtuoso®, pour obtenir les paramètres nécessaires à l’élaboration d’un circuit amplificateur. Enfin, des composants passifs (résistances) ont été développés et un circuit détecteur d’amplitude sur substrat flexible a été élaboré et testé. / Organic field effect transistors (OFETs) have huge potential in the applications of future electronics, such as flexible circuits and displays or medical application. However, stability and performances of OFETs need to be improved, so as to reach the real market applications.First objective of this work is to realize air stable OFETs with state of the art performance. To that end, several approaches have been applied with special focus on process simplification. Small molecule, dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3‘-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT) has been chosen as the active layer for all devices studies. Metal electrodes in combination with oxide interfacial layers were investigated to decrease the contact resistance, which not only affects eventual mobility that can be achieved but also complicates circuit design. A systematic study was carried out to fabricate high capacitance dielectric layer and passivating the surface with proper interfacial layers. These approaches allowed to obtain high performance OFET on plastic substrate with high mobility (2.4cm2.V-1.s-1), high current on/off ratio (> 106), low threshold voltage and no hysteresis As the second objective, OFET devices were simulated using GoldenGate (with Cadence Virtuoso® environment) to derive relevant parameters, which helped to design amplifier circuit. Finally, passive component (resistance) has been developed and final circuit was realized and characterized.

A eletrônica digital desempenha papel essencial no desenvolvimento e manutenção dos padrões de vida em prática hoje no mundo. A peça fundamental para a criação desta era tecnológica é sem dúvidas o transistor. Com o advento de novos materiais, a busca por transistores que oferecem novas oportunidades de processamento e aplicação permitiu que uma nova área fosse criada: a eletrônica orgânica. Transistores de efeito de campo baseados em filmes finos de materiais orgânicos têm recebido grande atenção nas últimas décadas. Apresentamos um estudo experimental e teórico de transistores de efeito de campo a base de filmes finos orgânicos. Foram caracterizados transistores usando um derivado do pentaceno (TMTES-pentaceno) como camada ativa em um dispositivo feito sobre Si/SiO2. Mostramos que a inclusão do semicondutor orgânico em uma matriz polimérica isolante ajuda a manter a estabilidade termo mecânica do dispositivo. Foi desenvolvido um modelo que levasse em conta as resistências parasíticas para explicar o comportamento do transistor em função da temperatura. Também foram construídos e caracterizados transistores usando rr-P3HT como semicondutor e PMMA como isolantes. Apresentamos transistores do tipo Top-Gate e Bottom-Gate com mobilidade máxima de 7 x 10-3 cm2/V.s. Valores de razão ON/OFF de ~ 900 foram encontrados nos transistores otimizados. O comportamento dos transistores é analisado em função da temperatura e os modelos de aproximação de canal gradual e de Vissenberg-Matters foram aplicados para extração dos parâmetros de interesse. Por fim, apresentamos um modelo de corrente de canal baseado na resolução 2D numérica da equação de Poisson usando as idéias de Vissenberg-Matters para a concentração de cargas em função do potencial local. O modelo, embora ainda nos primeiros estágios de desenvolvimento, prevê a saturação da corrente nas curvas de saída simuladas sem limitações de regime de validade. / Digital electronics plays an essential role in the development and maintenance of living standards into practice in the world today. The cornerstone for the creation of this technological age is undoubtedly the transistor. With the advent of new materials, the search for transistors that offer new opportunities in processing and application allowed a new area to be created: the organic electronics. Field effect transistors based on organic thin films have received great attention in recent decades. We report an experimental and theoretical study of field effect transistors based on organic thin films. We characterized transistors manufactured using a derivative of pentacene (TMTES-pentacene) as the active layer in a device and using Si/SiO2 as gate and insulator. We show that the inclusion of the organic semiconductor in an insulating polymeric matrix helps to maintain the termo-mechanical stability of the device. A model was developed that take into account the parasitic resistances and to explain the behavior of the transistor as a function of temperature. We also present the manufacturing and characterization process of transistors using rr-P3HT as semiconductor and PMMA as insulator. We report Top-Gate and Bottom-Gate transistors with maximum mobility of 7 x 10-3 cm2/V.s. The maximun ON/OFF ratio of ~ 900 was found for the optimized transistors. The behavior of the transistors was analyzed as a function of temperature and both gradual channel approximation and Vissenberg-Matters models were applied for extracting the parameters. Finally, we present a channel current model based on the resolution of 2D numerical Poisson equation using the ideas of Vissenberg-Matters to the calculate the concentration of charges due to the local potential. The model, although still in the early stages of development, predicts the saturation current at output simulated curves with no limitation of regime validity.

L'objectif de ce travail de recherche est l'élaboration et l'optimisation de transistors à effet de champ organiques de type N (OTFTs). Des transistors en structure Bottom Gate Bottom Contact sont fabriqués à basse température T<120°C. Trois différentes molécules organiques conductrices d'électrons, déposées par évaporation thermiques, sont utilisées pour la couche active. Les OTFTs à base de la première molécule à corps LPP présentent de faibles mobilités à effet de champ de l'ordre de 10-5cm2/V.s. L'étude d'optimisation menée sur les conditions de dépôt de cette dernière n'a pas permis d'améliorer ses performances électriques. L'étude de stabilité électrique ''Gate Bias Stress'' a mis en évidence les instabilités de cette molécule. Les OTFTs à base des deux dérivés indénofluorènes (IF) possèdent des mobilités plus importantes. Dans les conditions optimales la molécule IF(CN2)2 méta permet d'atteindre une mobilité d'effet de champ µFE=2.1x10-4 cm2/V, alors que la molécule IF(CN2)2 para permet d'obtenir des mobilités µFE=1x10-2cm2/V.s après recuit. L'étude de stabilité électrique a mis en évidence une meilleure stabilité des OTFTs à base de IF(CN2)2 para. Une étude des phénomènes de transport de charges est menée pour les deux types de molécules. Les OTFTs de type N réalisés sont utilisés pour la réalisation d'un circuit logique de type inverseur pseudo-CMOS. Finalement, ce procédé basse température nous a permis de réaliser des OTFTs sur substrat flexible. / The main goal of this present work consists in the fabrication and optimization of N type organic field effect transistors. Bottom Gate Bottom Contact transistors are performed at low temperature T<120°C. Three different electro-deficient organic molecules are thermally evaporated and used as active layer. OTFTs based on LPP core molecule present low field effect mobility around 10-5cm2/V.s. The optimization study investigated on deposition parameters of this molecule on OTFTs performances does not allow improving this mobility. Moreover gate bias stress measurements reveal important instabilities related to this molecule. Indenfluorene derivatives core (IF) based OTFTs show better performances. Field effect mobility µFE=2.1x10-4 cm2/V is reached using IF(CN2)2 meta in optimized deposition conditions and µFE=1x10-2 cm2/V.s is obtained using IF(CN2)2 para after annealing treatment. The investigated gate bias stress study highlights the good electrical stability of IF(CN2)2 para based OTFTs. Temperature measurements allow us studying the charge transport phenomenon in these indenofluorene derivatives. Fabricated N-type OTFTs are used to perform a first electronic circuit that consists in a logic gate (invertor).Finally this low temperature process led us to achieve OTFTs devices on flexible substrates (PEN).

In this these, in order to enhance the n-channel organic field-effect transistor (OFET) performance, amino functionalized self-assembled monolayers (A-SAMs) which consist of amino groups, a well-known n-type dopant candidate, were introduced from the top of OFET surfaces and on the gate oxide surfaces. To obtain better understanding for optimization of OFET performances we attempted to elucidate the mechanism of surface doping and surface modification by A-SAMs. Both the surface doping and surface modification of the gate oxide approaches have individual pros and cons. One needs to take into account the surface energy properties of SAMs and the resulting OSC film structure and pick the most suitable method to introduce the SAM material to the OFET (either doping or oxide modification) in order to obtain optimized device performances. Our study strongly suggests that both surface doping and surface modification of the gate oxide with A-SAMs could enhance other semiconductor-based electronic device performances.:Abstract v Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. Theoretical Background 7 2.1. Organic Semiconductors (OSCs) 8 2.1.1. Semiconducting properties of organic molecules 8 2.1.2. Charge Transport Mechanism in OSCs 10 2.2. Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs) 18 2.2.1. Operation Principle 18 2.2.2. Device Geometry of OFETs 20 2.2.3. Contacts (metal/semiconductor junction) in OFETs 21 2.2.4. Dielectric material for OFETs 23 2.2.5. Current-Voltage Characteristics of OFETs 25 2.3. Dominant contributors to OFET Performance 32 2.3.1. Molecular structure and Orientation of OSCs 32 2.3.2. Dielectric/OSC Interface 33 2.3.3. OSC/Contact Interface (Contact resistance) 35 2.3.4. Shallow and deep traps 36 2.4. Strategies to improve OFET performance 37 2.4.1. Introducing dopants to OFETs 37 2.4.2. Modification of Gate Oxide Layer with SAMs 44 Chapter 3. Experimental 51 3.1. Device Fabrication 52 3.1.1. Device type I - Substrate/ODTMS/PTCDI-C8/Au 53 3.1.2. Device type II - Substrate/ODTCS/N2200 (PNDI2OD-2T)/Au 53 3.1.3. Device type III - Substrate/SAMs/PTCDI-C8/Au 54 3.2. Surface doping process 56 3.2.1. Surface dopant – Aminosilanes (A-SAMs) 56 3.2.2. Surface doping method 56 3.3. Characterization 59 3.3.1. Material characterization 59 3.3.2. Surface-wetting characterization - Contact angle measurement 61 3.3.3. Micro-structure characterization - Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) 62 3.3.4. Surface potential characterization – Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) 63 3.3.5. Molecular Structure Characterization - Grazing Incidence Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (GIWAXS) 64 3.3.6. Electrical Characterization - Current-voltage (I-V) measurement 66 Chapter 4. Result and Discussion 69 4.1. Optimization of OFETs based on PTCDI-C8 and N2200 70 4.1.1. PTCDI-C8 OFETs 70 4.1.2. N2200 OFETs 72 4.1.3. Device measurement condition 75 4.2. Investigation of Surface doping mechanism of Aminosilanes 77 4.2.1. Surface doping effect depending on the dopant processing method 77 4.2.2. Surface doping effect for different types of organic semiconductors 80 4.2.3. Surface doping effect for different types of surface dopants 89 4.2.4. Surface doping effect for different OSC grain sizes 92 4.2.5. Surface doping effect for different OSC film thicknesses 103 4.2.6. Molecular structure of the doped films identified by GIWAXS 106 4.2.7. Stability of the surface doped OFETs 107 4.2.8. Summary 111 4.3. Modification of the gate oxide with various self-assembled monolayers 112 4.3.1. The surface property of SAM-treated substrates 112 4.3.2. The relation between the OSC morphology and the field-effect mobility 115 4.3.3. The origin of the threshold voltage shift 126 4.3.4. Memristive effects in PTCDI-C8 devices on ODTMS 133 4.3.5. Summary 137 4.4. Comparison of the surface doping and the modification of the gate dielectric 138 4.4.1. The reliability factor of OFETs 138 4.4.2. The threshold voltages and field-effect mobility of OFETs 141 4.4.3. Density of Interfacial trap sites and SAM induced mobile carriers 143 4.4.4. Summary 144 Chapter 5. Conclusion 145 Bibliography 148 List of Figures 158 List of Tables 166 List of Equations 167 Acknowledgment 168 Erklärung zur Eröffnung des Promotionsverfahrens 169

In this thesis, methods for improving charge carrier mobility and deposition conditions for the solution shearing of organic semiconductors for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are investigated. Electrical performance for OFETs is currently still limited by the charge carrier mobility, especially when high fabrication speeds are required. In this work, adaptations are made to the solution shearing method to enhance charge carrier mobility values and to increase the deposition speed and film uniformity of semiconductor films. The solution shearing method can be easily adapted to large-scale roll-to-roll fabrication, a low-cost and high throughput fabrication process. In this work, the fabrication of OFETs with both crystalline small-molecule and donor-acceptor polymer semiconductors as the active layer is performed, and significant improvements in charge carrier mobility and film formation are achieved. Specifically, the crystalline small-molecule semiconductor TIPS-pentacene is blended with the inert dielectric polystyrene, and solution shearing parameters are optimized to obtain highly-aligned crystalline films. The thin film with optimized morphology is deposited on a very thin polymer dielectric film, demonstrating the feasibility of high-performance OFETs (effective mobility of ~1.2 cm2 V-1s-1) and an ultra-low operating voltage (~1 V) – at the time a record value. To improve crystal growth, the solution shearing method is modified to add vibrations to the liquid during the coating process. The new coating method, named “piezoshearing”, allows the application of vibrations to the liquid during deposition through the attachment of a piezo actuator to the shearing blade. The piezoshearing is implemented to enhance crystal growth during the solution shearing of crystalline materials, and tests of piezoshearing for the material 2,7-Dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8-BTBT) demonstrate that substrate coverage can be increased due to induced stick-and-slip caused by the piezoshearing. Due to the unfavorable wetting conditions of semiconducting donor-acceptor polymer solutions on the commonly used low surface energy OFET substrates, conventional solution shearing is problematic. With piezoshearing, film deposition can be significantly improved. In particular, through piezoshearing the so-called stick-and-slip instabilities are mitigated, allowing the doubling of the shearing speed, and the deposition of smooth and ultrathin films (~7 nm). In addition to enabling higher coating speeds, piezoshearing also lowers the polymer material consumption by up to ~ 70% in comparison to the conventional solution shearing method. For some materials, piezoshearing is also found to increase the charge carrier mobility in OFET devices by up to two orders of magnitude. The piezoshearing is utilized for viscous polymer solutions, which are challenging to coat, and usually, result in non-uniform films. Three donor-acceptor polymer systems were tested, and morphology changes are observed for all materials when piezoshearing is applied. For one of the polymeric solutions, an increase in crystallinity is achieved, possibly accompanied by a change in the degree of alignment of the polymer chains. For two other polymer solutions with higher molecular weight chains, very smooth films were obtained with the piezoshearing – saving 30% of material. Without the application of vibrations, such materials yield very non-uniform films, with significant thickness variations, which is unsuitable for OFET devices. In summary, this work leads to significant improvements in the solution shearing of organic semiconductor materials by adding vibrations in the kHz range to the deposition process. The effects and benefits of utilizing the piezoshearing are demonstrated, and suggestions for further improvement and studies are made.:Contents 7 1.Introduction 11 Motivation 11 Outline 12 2.Theoretical Principles of Organic Electronic Materials and Devices 13 Organic Electronics 13 Organic Semiconductors 14 Charge Transport Mechanisms in Organic Semiconductors 16 Organic Field-effect Transistors 19 Operation 19 The Metal-Semiconductor Interface 22 The Dielectric 25 Film Morphology and Charge Transport in OFETs 27 Small Molecules 27 Semicrystalline Polymers 29 3.Solution Shearing and Control of Film Morphology 33 The Solution Shearing Method 34 Capillary Flow and the Pinned Contact Line. 36 Marangoni Flow 36 Shear Flow 37 Film Formation in Solution Shearing 38 Small Molecules 38 Polymers 43 Stick-and-slip Instabilities 50 Contact Angle Hysteresis and Stick-and-slip 52 Vibration-assisted Thin-film Solution Fabrication Methods 53 Effects on a Liquid stemming from Vibration 53 Relevant Characteristics 57 Vibrations and Thin-film Formation 58 Combining the Solution Shearing and Vibrations 61 4.Experimental Methods 63 Device Fabrication 63 Substrate Preparation 63 Electrode Evaporation . 65 Piezoshearing Setup 65 Thin-film Characterization 68 Cross-Polarized Optical Microscopy 68 Grazing Incidence Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering 71 Electrical characterization 77 Characterization 77 Mobility estimation and overestimation discussion 77 5.Alignment Improvement from Blending the Small molecule TIPS- pentacene with an inert Polymer 81 Introduction 81 Optimization of film morphology for TIPS-pentacene . 82 Device Fabrication 82 Electrical Characterization .. 83 Film morphology characterization 86 Fabrication of Ultra-low-voltage Operation Devices 96 Figure of Merit of this Study 97 6.Piezoshearing of Crystalline Materials 101 Introduction 101 Piezoshearing of Pristine TIPS-pentacene 102 Film Fabrication 102 Thin-film Characterization 102 TIPS-pentacene blended with PS in Toluene: Better Performing Devices 104 Piezoshearing of C8-BTBT 105 7.Addressing Stick-and-Slip Instabilities in solution-sheared films for Introduction 109 Device Fabrication 110 The Effect of Piezoshearing on Stick-and-Slip Instabilities 111 Increasing Shearing Speed 111 Thin-film Characterization 114 Electrical Characterization 116 Energy Barriers and Overcoming them with Vibration 119 Acceleration Threshold for Mitigating Stick-and-slip 122 8.Piezoshearing of Viscous Polymer Solutions 127 Introduction 127 Device Fabrication 128 DPP4DE-TT and Film Morphology 129 DPP6DO-TT, DPP6DO-T, and Faraday Instabilities 137 Thin-film Characterization 141 Piezoshearing as a Parametric Oscillator System 145 Solid Friction 146 Viscosity 146 Transition Between Regimes 147 9.Conclusion and Outlook 149 Conclusion 149 Outlook 150

This research focused on the development of new metal triimine complexes of Pt(II), Pd(II), and Ni(II) for use in three types of molecular electronic devices: dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and organic field effect transistors (OFETs). Inorganic complexes combine many advantages of their chemical and photophysical properties and are processable on inexpensive and large area substrates for various optoelectronic applications. For DSSCs, a series of platinum (II) triimine complexes were synthesized and evaluated as dyes for nanocrystalline oxide semiconductors. Pt (II) forms four coordinate square planar complexes with various co-ligands and counterions and leads to spanning absorption across a wide range in the UV-Vis-NIR regions. When those compounds were applied to the oxide semiconductors, they led to photocurrent generation thus verifying the concept of their utility in solar cells. In the OLEDs project, a novel pyridyl-triazolate Pt(II) complex, Pt(ptp)2 was synthesized and generated breakthrough OLEDs. In the solution state, the electronic absorption and emission of the square planar structure results in metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) and an aggregation band. Tunable photoluminescence and electroluminescence colors from blue to red wavelengths have been attained upon using Pt(ptp)2 under different experimental conditions and OLED architectures. In taking advantage of these binary characteristics for both monomer and excimer emissions, cool and warm white OLEDs suitable for solid-state lighting have been fabricated. The OFETs project represented an extension of the study of pyridyl-triazolate d8 metal complexes due to their electron-transporting behavior and n-type properties. A prescreening step by using thermogravimetric calorimetry has demonstrated the stability of all three M(ptp)2 and M(ptp)2(py)2 compounds and their amenability to sublimation. Preliminary current-voltage measurements from simple diodes has achieved unidirectional current from a Pt(ptp)2 neat layer and demonstrated its n-type semiconducting behavior.

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are essential devices for the realization of novel electronic applications based on organic materials. Recent years have brought tremendous improvements regarding the organic semiconductor (OSC) with charge carrier mobilities around 10 cm²/Vs. Yet, several challenges are needed to be addressed in order to enable technologies of the future that are based on high-performance organic transistors. In this work, C8-BTBT, a high-mobility material that has gained increasing interest in the last few years, is used to prepare films with state-of-the art charge-carrier mobility and above. For this purpose, the solution-shearing method—a meniscus-guided technique that is capable to produce highly aligned, crystalline films—is applied. Based on these charge-transport layers with an estimated intrinsic mobility of up to 12 cm²/Vs, several strategies towards their exploitation for high-performance organic transistors are investigated. Among the relevant parameter, channel length, contact resistance and gate dielectric capacitance are the three aspects that are addressed. The solution-shearing method is further applied to the realization of solution-deposited polymer dielectrics. High-capacitance films with maximum values of about 280 nF/cm² are fabricated and used to produce low-voltage OFETs that can operate at -1V. In order to increase the devices’ transconductance, a novel patterning methodology to achieve sub-micrometre channel lengths is investigated. Using this technique, working devices with a channel length of 500 nm are shown. The compatibility of this process with the solution-shearing method for the fabrication of high-performance semiconducting and gate dielectric films is one of its major advantages. One of the limiting device parameters is the contact resistance as is clearly observable by the restricted current scaling that is observed for lower channel length. Hence, the interface of OSC and source/drain contacts is investigated. Even though an ultimate solution for very low contact resistance remains to be developed, important aspects for its further enhancement are deduced in this work. As an important first experimental result, this thesis describes a short-channel device architecture that is compatible with solution-shearing of high-performance films with its full potential yet to be explored in future work. / Organische Feld-Effekt Transistoren (OFETs) sind grundlegende Bestandteile für die Entwicklung neuerartiger Technologien auf der Basis von organischen Halbleitermaterialien. Insbesondere während der letzten Jahre haben diese Materialien einschlägige Verbesserungen erfahren und erreichen heute Ladungsträgermobilitäten um die 10 cm²/Vs. Um dies für die Umsetzung neuartiger Technologien zu nutzen, müssen jedoch noch einige Herausforderungen überwunden werden. Diese Arbeit leistet einen Beitrag in diese Richtung. Unter Anwendung eines der wohl populärsten Halbleitermaterialien der letzen Jahre mit der chemischen Bezeichnung C8-BTBT, wird die Herstellung von hochqualitativen Halbleiterfilmen mittels Flüssigprozessierung gezeigt. Mit der sogenannten „Solution-Shearing“ Methode – eine Abscheidetechnik, die über die Kontrolle eines trocknenden Meniskus hochkristalline und ausgerichtete Schichten erzeugen kann – ist es möglich Dünnschichtbauelemente mit abgeschätzten, intrinsischen Ladungsträgermobilitäten von bis zu 12 cm²/Vs zu erzeugen. Um diese hoch-qualitativen Filme für die Herstellung von leistungsfähigen Transistoren zu nutzen, werden mehrere relevante Parameter betrachtet, darunter die Kanallänge, der Kontaktwiderstand und das Gate-Dielektrikum. Im Speziellen wird die Abscheidung des Dielektrikums mittels der „Solution-Shearing“ Methode untersucht. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass dies für die Herstellung von qualitativ hochwertigen Filmen mit Kapazitäten bis zu 280 nF/cm² genutzt werden kann. Angewendet in OFETs erlauben diese Schichten den Betrieb bei sehr geringen Spannungen von -1V. Um die Transkonduktanz der Transistoren zu erhöhen wird zudem eine mit der „Solution-Shearing“ Methode kompatible Source/Drain-Strukturierungsmethode untersucht. Diese ermöglicht Kanallängen unter einem Mikrometer und konnte hier für die Herstellung von funktionierenden Transistoren mit einer Kanallänge bis zu nur 500 nm angewendet werden. Eine der limitierenden Transistorkenngrößen ist der Kontaktwiderstand, wie durch die abweichende Skalierung des Stromes mit verringerter Kanallänge deutlich wird. Aus diesem Grund wurde auch die Grenzfläche zwischen Halbleiter und Source/Drain-Kontakten näher untersucht. Allerdings verbleibt die Entwicklung einer effektiven Methode zur Reduzierung des Kontaktwiderstandes ein Projekt für zukünftige Untersuchungen, auch wenn die vorliegende Arbeit einige wichtige Anhaltpunkte für mögliche Strategien liefert. Als wichtiges erstes Resultat liefert die vorliegende Arbeit eine Beschreibung zur Herstellung funktionsfähiger Kurzkanal-OFETs mittels „Solution-Shearing“, deren volles Potential aber in der Zukunft weiter untersucht werden muss.

During past years, organic-based electronic devices revealed high promise to supplement the ubiquitous silicon-based electronic devices and enable new fields of applications. At the center of this development is the considerable progress regarding π-conjugated polymer semiconductors (PSCs): Due to their processability from solution, light-weight, as well as low-cost, PSCs are now evolving towards production-scale of new technologies, e.g., in organic solar cells (OSCs), organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Especially OFETs are of fundamental importance, as they constitute the switching units in all logic circuits and display technologies. However, the future world is expected to be full with smart electronics and communication devices integrated in clothes, tools and even interacting with the human body, e.g., as on-skin wearable sensors. For this the electrically-active material, just as a human tissue, requires to combine several properties in addition to being charge conducting: They need to show (i) mechanical softness, (ii) capacity to repair, (iii) multimodal sensitivity, as well as (iv) biodegradability. Here, PSCs still face challenges as they are brittle and break upon applying a mechanical stress. When trying to address this issue, the existing knowledge on mechanical properties of well-established polymeric plastics, e.g., polystyrene, cannot be directly applied for several reasons, e.g., (i) the bulkiness of monomers (including long side-chains), (ii) the rigid π-conjugated backbone, (iii) the low degree of polymerization, (iv) the small quantities in which PSCs are available, etc. Moreover, these kinds of materials should not only be mechanically compliant and stretchable, but furthermore retain their charge mobility upon stretching, and withstand numerous of mechanical stretching cycles. Considering this complex problem, researchers have been developing and investigating several approaches to combine good electrical properties and mechanical compliance within one material. These approaches include (i) stress-accommodating engineering, (ii) blending of PSCs into elastic matrix, as well as (iii) molecular engineering approach. The latter seeks to interlink mechanical and electrical properties on the molecular level, i.e., synthesize polymers that are charge conducting and stretchable. Different strategies were tested, from the modification of side chains, to the introduction of conjugation breakings spacers into the backbone. Selected works sought to incorporate stretchability and conductivity by utilizing block copolymers, i.e., covalently linking a conjugated and a non-conjugated polymer chain, resulting in a phase separation of both constituents and preserving their respective properties. The ultimate goal of this work is to achieve an intrinsically stretchable and electrically high-performing PSC via the block copolymer approach. This is done by connecting organosilicone, namely the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer – possessing outstanding mechanical properties, as well as good environmental and air stability – with a conjugated diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based donor-acceptor copolymer. The final obtained structure of this polymer is a tri-block copolymer (TBC) consisting of an inner DPP-based polymer block and two outer soft PDMS polymer blocks. The content of PDMS block can be controlled and be very high (up to 67 wt%), and easy processing, e.g., via shear coating, is possible. Relatively high charge carrier mobilities – in the same range as the reference DPP-based copolymer (i.e., without outer PDMS blocks) – are retained, and the block copolymers withstands numerous stretching cycles (up to 1500 cycles) without losing electrical functionality. Finally, one of the block copolymers was successfully incorporated into a biosensor for COVID-19 antibodies and antigens detection. Overall, the findings of this work show that the block copolymer is a highly versatile approach to obtain functional and stretchable semiconductors with high charge carrier mobilities. Block copolymers consisting of a high-performing donor-acceptor PSC and a biocompatible elastomer could contribute towards one of the long-term goals of organic electronics – the realization of mechanically compliant materials for applications in stretchable electronics (e.g., wearable sensors, electronic skin, etc.).

Two major projects involving the use of solution processed blended semiconductors for organic field effect transistors (OFET) were explored. The first incorporated unsorted single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) into a diketopyrrolopyrrole-quarterthiophene (DPP-QT) semiconductor to enhance the mobility of the OFET. 2 wt % SWCNT was found to be the optimal blend ratio, nearly doubling the device mobility (0.6 to 0.98 cm^2/V·s). Beyond this ratio, the metallic content of the SWCNT’s dropped the on/off ratio below acceptable levels. When source drain metals who’s work function poorly matched that of the DPP-QT semiconductors highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) were used, the SWCNT could dramatically reduce the charge injection ratio with best results achieved for Al, dropping the contact resistance from 10^5 to 45 MΩ. The second project explored the addition of small molecule additives into a UV-sensitive semiconductor 2,7-dipentyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1] benzothiophene (C5-BTBT) mixed with a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymer binder. We generated a C5-BTBT based phototransistor sensitive to UV-A light. The HOMO and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of C5-BTBT and the various additives were measured and discovered to play a critical role in how the device operates. We discovered if an additive has a LUMO lower in energy than C5-BTBT, it can act as a charge trap for a photogenerated electron. Electron deficient additives were found to retain a trapped electron for an extended period of time, allowing the device to remain in a high current state for an extended period of time (>1 hour). This provides an opportunity for the device to be used as an optical memory system or photoswitch. The best system could detect UV-A with a Pill > 10^5 and a photoresponsivity of 40 A/W at a Pinc of 0.0427 mW/cm^2. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / An emerging field of electronics is the use of organic materials that can be solution processed, to reduce manufacturing costs and make new and interesting products. Here we used unsorted carbon nanotubes blended into the semiconductor layer of a transistor, providing a bridge for the energy mismatch between the electrodes and the semiconductor. This allowed us the freedom to choose different metals to act as our electrodes when making electronic devices. Additionally through the correct choice of semiconductor, we added device functionality, making it responsive to UV-A light. This produced a device that could act as a UV-A sensor, logic switch or memory device. These devices are air stable and solution processable, a necessity if they are to be used in real world applications.