Integration of self-assembled discotic-based fibres into field-effect transistors: a comparison of preparation approaches

The role played by the preparation method upon the morphological and electrical properties of alkyl substituted thio-triphenylene-based self-assembled fibres is explored by comparing two processing approaches, termed solvent vapour annealing (SVA) and solvent induced precipitation (SIP). Both approaches led to fibres having widths of several hundred nanometres and lengths of tens of micrometres. SVA formed isolated fibres which were tens of nanometres high, flat, and tapered at the ends. Conversely, SIP fibres exhibited nearly matching heights and widths, but organized into bundles. Despite these morphological differences, the same intermolecular packing is found by XRD in each type of structure, albeit with differing degrees of long-range order. The fibres were integrated into bottom-gate bottom-contact field-effect transistors. The density and configuration of the fibres with respect to the electrodes and gate dielectric were found to play an important role in the transport properties. SIP devices yielded the highest mobilities compared to SVA and spin-coated devices, largely owing to their high degree of internal order and the possibility to achieve high fibre densities within the transistor channel.