General Observation of n-Type Field-Effect Behaviour in Organic Semiconductors

by Lay-Lay Chua et al. Nature, 10 Mar 2005 Organic semiconductors have been the subject of active research for over a decade now, with applications emerging in light-emitting displays and printable electronic circuits. One characteristic feature of these materials is the strong trapping of electrons but not holes: organic field-effect transistors (FETs) typically show p-type, but not n-type, conduction even with the appropriate low-work-function electrodes, except for a few special high-electron-affinity or low-bandgap organic semiconductors. Here we demonstrate that the use of an appropriate hydroxyl-free gate dielectric -- such as a divinyltetramethylsiloxane-bis(benzocyclobutene) derivative -- can yield n-channel FET conduction in most conjugated polymers. Read the article