24-03-2010, 04:04 PM
Abstract :
For the past ten years, organic materials have been extensively investigated as an electronic material for thin film transistor (TFT) devices. Organic materials offer strong promise in terms of properties, processing and cost effectiveness and they can be used in flat panel displays, imagers, smart cards, inventory tags and large area electronic applications. In this review, There is a particular need to develop air-stable n-channel (electron-conducting) organic semiconductors with performance comparable to that of p-channel (hole-conducting) materials, for organic electronics to realize the benefits of complementary circuit design, i.e., the ability to switch transistors with either positive or negative gate voltages. There have been significant advancements in the past five years. In terms of standard OTFT metrics such as the field effect mobility (µFET) and on-to-off current ratio (ION/IOFF), n-channel OTFTs have achieved performance comparable both to that of n-channel amorphous silicon TFTs and to that of the best reported p-channel (hole-conducting) OTFTs; however, issues of device stability linger. This review provides a detailed introduction to OTFTs, summarizes recent progress in the development of new n-channel organic semiconductors, and discusses the critical properties that any prospective n-channel material must have. Methods important to semiconductor design such as electronic structure calculations and synthetic structural modifications are highlighted in a case study of the development of a new n-channel material based on a terthiophene modified with electron-withdrawing groups ,current status of the organic thin film transistors including substrate materials, electrodes, semiconducting and dielectric layers; organic thin film preparation methods; morphological studies for organic thin films; electrical characterization of gate dielectric layers and semiconducting active layers; and characterization of the OTFTs. Future prospects and investigations required to improve the OTFT performance are also given.
