Controlled self-assembly of organic semiconductors for solution-based fabrication of organic field-effect transistors

The solubility and low processing temperatures of organic semiconductors enable fabrication of electronic devices using relatively simple printing technologies, and hold promise for realizing flexible plastic devices by environment-friendly production methods at low cost. In particular, by effectively using the self-assembling ability of molecules, production methods for organic semiconductor devices are expected to become more efficient in terms of energy and material consumption. We have developed two solution-based methods for self-organized formation of organic semiconductor crystals, including area selective nucleation of crystalline semiconductor films and direct formation of organic single crystals. These bottom-up methods of device fabrication, wherein the intrinsic functionalities of molecules are utilized for spontaneous assembly, may become a core technology for future plastic electronics. Bottom-up fabrication methods based on self assembly of molecules are developed for solution-processed production of organic semiconductor devices. Our methods enable area selective crystallization of molecules and direct formation of organic single crystals from solution. Since these methods can be processed under ambient condition at room temperature, they are fully compatible with printable electronics technology.