Thin film structure of tetraceno[2,3-b]thiophene characterized by grazing incidence X-ray scattering and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure analysis

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Quan Yuan - , Stanford University (Author)
  • Stefan C.B. Mannsfeld - , Stanford University (Author)
  • Ming L. Tang - , Stanford University (Author)
  • Michael F. Toney - , Stanford University (Author)
  • Jan Lüning - , Stanford University (Author)
  • Zhenan Bao - , Stanford University (Author)

Abstract

Understanding the structure-property relationship for organic semiconductors is crucial in rational molecular design and organic thin film process control. Charge carrier transport in organic field-effect transistors predominantly occurs in a few semiconductor layers close to the interface in contact with the dielectric layer, and the transport properties depend sensitively on the precise molecular packing. Therefore, a better understanding of the impact of molecular packing and thin film morphology in the first few monolayers above the dielectric layer on charge transport is needed to improve the transistor performance. In this Article, we show that the detailed molecular packing in thin organic semiconductor films can be solved through a combination of grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD), near-edge X-ray absorption spectra fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, energy minimization packing calculations, and structure refinement of the diffraction data. We solve the thin film structure for 2 and 20 nm thick films of tetraceno[2,3-b]-thiophene and detect only a single phase for these thicknesses. The GIXD yields accurate unit cell dimensions, while the precise molecular arrangement in the unit cell was found from the energy minimization and structure refinement; the NEXAFS yields a consistent molecular tilt. For the 20 nm film, the unit cell is triclinic with a = 5.96 Å, b = 7.71 Å, c = 15.16 Å, α = 97.30°, β = 95.63°, γ = 90°; there are two molecules per unit cell with herringbone packing (49-59° angle) and tilted about 7° from the substrate normal. The thin film structure is significantly different from the bulk single-crystal structure, indicating the importance of characterizing thin film to correlate with thin film device performance. The results are compared to the corresponding data for the chemically similar and widely used pentacene. Possible effects of the observed thin film structure and morphology on charge carrier mobility are discussed.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3502-3508
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume130
Issue number11
Publication statusPublished - 23 Feb 2008
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 18293975