Thiol Carbazole Self‐Assembled Monolayers as Tunable Carrier Injecting Interlayers for Organic Transistors and Complementary Circuits
The significant contact resistance at the metal-semiconductor interface is a well-documented issue for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) that hinders device and circuit performance. Here, this issue is tackled by developing three new thiol carbazole-based self-assembled monolayer (SAM) molecules, namely tBu-2SCz, 2SCz, and Br-2SCz, and utilizing them as carrier-selective injection interlayers. The SAMs alter the work function of gold electrodes by more than 1 eV, making them suitable for use in hole and electron-transporting OTFTs. Scanning tunneling microscopy analysis indicates that 2SCz and Br-2SCz form highly ordered molecular rows, resulting in work function values of 4.86 and 5.48 eV, respectively. The latter value is higher than gold electrodes modified by the commonly used pentafluorobenzenethiol (≈5.33 eV), making Br-2SCz promising for hole injection. Conversely, tBu-2SCz appears disordered with a lower work function of 4.52 eV, making it more suitable for electron injection. These intriguing properties are leveraged to demonstrate hole- and electron-transporting OTFTs with improved operating characteristics. All-organic complementary inverters are finally demonstrated by integrating p- and n-channel OTFTs, showcasing the potential of this simple yet powerful contact work function engineering approach. The present study highlights the versatility of thiol carbazole SAMs as carrier injecting interlayers for OTFTs and integrated circuits.
Authors
- Qiao He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9383-9387)
- Mohamad Insan Nugraha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9352-1902)
- Shadi Fatayer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4260-3208)
- Ryanda Enggar Anugrah Ardhi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6594-5759)
- Martin Heeney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6879-5020)
- Zhaoheng Ling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1076-0077)
- George T. Harrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6818-0528)
- Thomas D. Anthopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0978-8813)
- Marco Thaler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2006-8868)
- Yuliar Firdaus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-2951)
- Mohamed Nejib Hedhili (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3624-036X)
- Linqu Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2464-6846)
- Laerte L. Patera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6214-5681)
- Leonidas Tsetseris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0330-0813)
- Zhongzhe Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7316-2188)
- Matthias Zeilerbauer
- Yuying Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9302-7629)
Institutions
- Bandung Institute of Technology (ID)
- National Technical University of Athens (GR)
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Henry Royce Institute (GB)
- National Research and Innovation Agency (ID)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2024-12-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202413157
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.04
Funders
- Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council