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Improving OFF-State Bias-Stress Stability in High-Mobility Conjugated Polymer Transistors with an Anti-Solvent Treatment.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Nguyen, Malgorzata 
Kraft, Ulrike 
Tan, Wen Liang 
Dobryden, Illia 
Broch, Katharina 

Abstract

Conjugated polymer field-effect transistors are emerging as an enabling technology for flexible electronics due to their excellent mechanical properties combined with sufficiently high charge carrier mobilities and compatibility with large-area, low-temperature processing. However, their electrical stability remains a concern. ON-state (accumulation mode) bias-stress instabilities in organic semiconductors have been widely studied, and multiple mitigation strategies have been suggested. In contrast, OFF-state (depletion mode) bias-stress instabilities remain poorly understood despite being crucial for many applications in which the transistors are held in their OFF-state for most of the time. Here, we present a simple method of using an anti-solvent treatment to achieve significant improvements in OFF-state bias-stress and environmental stability as well as general device performance for one of the best performing polymers, solution-processable indacenodithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole (IDT-BT). IDT-BT is weakly crystalline, and we attribute the notable improvements to an anti-solvent-induced, increased degree of crystallinity, resulting in a lower probability of electron trapping and the removal of charge traps. Our work highlights the importance of the microstructure in weakly crystalline polymer films and offers a simple processing strategy for achieving the reliability required for applications in flexible electronics. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description

Keywords

bias-stress effects, electron trapping, organic field-effect transistors, solvent treatment, stability

Journal Title

Adv Mater

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0935-9648
1521-4095

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/R031894/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S030662/1)
EPSRC
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