Air-stable and high-mobility organic thin-film transistors of poly(2,5-bis(2-thienyl)-3,6-dihexadecyltheino[3,2-b]thiophene) on low-surface-energy self-assembled monolayers

Air-stable and high-mobility polymer-based organic thin-film transistors are developed by employing low-surface-energy self-assembled monolayers and prolonged post-annealing. Carrier mobility in spin-coated thin films of a high-ionic-potential polymer semiconductor poly(2,5-bis(2-thienyl)-3,6-dihexadecyltheino[3,2-b]thiophene) reaches (0.08–0.17 cm2/V s with decyltriethoxysilane monolayers and 0.4–0.8 cm2/V s with (heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrodecyl)triethoxysilane monolayers. The values become higher with longer annealing above the glass-transition temperature. The mobility, threshold voltage and on–off ratio are stable in humid air during the whole period of the experiment for more than 2 weeks. The high-performance and the air-stability demonstrated in the polymer thin-film transistors have enhanced their applicability in large-area, low-cost and flexible electronic devices.