Scanning probe microscopy study of electronic properties in alkyl-substituted oligothiophene-based field-effect transitors

It appeared in the past decades that semi-conducting organic liquid crystals could replace inorganic semi-conductors to manufacture field-effect transistors (FET). Indeed, they can be easily processed by simple methods such as inkjet printing. These simple and cheap manufacturing methods pave the way to new applications for plastic electronics: electronic tags, biosensors, flexible screens, etc. The performance of these liquid crystal nanomaterials is due to their specific nanoscale structure. However, one limitation to the improvement of organic electronic devices is an incomplete understanding of their optoelectronic properties at the nanoscale. The organic semiconductor films often contain a combination of many ordered and disordered regions, grain boundaries and localized traps. These features impact charge transport and trapping at the sub-100 nm length scales [1]. Electrical SPM techniques such as STM, KPFM, EFM and CS-AFM have the potential to provide a direct correlation between the electronic properties and the local film structure and have already made important contributions to the field of organic electronics.Here we report on preliminary investigations of the structural and electronic properties of p-conductive organic field-effect transistors (OFET) based on alkyl-substituted oligothiophenes with bottom-contact structure. For this purpose, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin-probe force microscopy (KPFM) in dual frequency mode under ambient conditions. This study helps to determine the local potential in the channel of active OFETs. On the other hand the molecular arrangements of these molecules on HOPG have been studied using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) at the liquid–solid interface.

► Studying surface potential distribution of ddOD4T and DH4T films by KPFM.
► Surface potential distribution on ddOD4T was smoother than that in DH4Tsamples.
► Observing more uniform surface potential by improving the thickness of DH4T film.
► Using STM, the ability of ddO4T to self-assemble on HOPG was demonstrated.