Rubicene: A molecular fragment of C70 for use in organic field-effect transistors

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Hyunbok Lee - , University of Massachusetts (Author)
  • Yue Zhang - , University of Massachusetts (Author)
  • Lei Zhang - , University of Massachusetts (Author)
  • Timothy Mirabito - , University of Massachusetts (Author)
  • Edmund K. Burnett - , University of Massachusetts (Author)
  • Stefan Trahan - , University of Massachusetts (Author)
  • Ali Reza Mohebbi - , University of California at Santa Barbara (Author)
  • Stefan C.B. Mannsfeld - , Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Author)
  • Fred Wudl - , University of California at Santa Barbara (Author)
  • Alejandro L. Briseno - , University of Massachusetts (Author)

Abstract

Rubicene, a molecular fragment of C70, is a promising organic semiconductor material that displays excellent electronic characteristics for use in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Bottom-gate/bottom-contact polycrystalline thin-film OFETs using rubicene exhibit a saturation hole mobility of 0.20 cm2 V-1 s-1 and a current on/off ratio (Ion/Ioff) of 1.0 × 104. In addition, the device performance can be improved with a mobility of 0.32 cm 2 V-1 s-1 and Ion/Ioff of 2.5 × 104 with pentafluorobenzenethiol (PFBT) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) treatment on Au electrodes. To characterize the interfacial electronic structure and morphology of rubicene on Au and PFBT/Au, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), theoretical calculation with density functional theory (DFT) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) were performed. With PFBT SAM treatment, the hole injection barrier from Au to rubicene is significantly decreased from 1.15 to 0.48 eV due to the formation of a large interface dipole on Au that increased its work function from 4.33 to 5.67 eV. Furthermore, PFBT SAM treatment also induces an "edge-on" configuration of rubicene, which can lead to the increase in carrier mobility. These results indicate that rubicene can serve as a benchmark organic semiconductor for model charge transport studies and in various organic electronic devices. This journal is

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3361-3366
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices
Volume2
Issue number17
Publication statusPublished - 7 May 2014
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes