New breakthrough achieves air-stable OFET material

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 17 Jan 2011

The plastic electronics industry could benefit from an advance in organic field-effect transistor (OFET) technology.

Researchers at the Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics at Georgia Tech in the US have been able to demonstrate an n-channel OFET structure, with tests showing the material maintains excellent air stability even after many months.

OFETs have application in backplane technology for OLED and flexible displays. Availability of n-type (electron-mobile) organic semiconductors is one of the main challenges to fabricating n-channel OFETs. So far the majority of research has been done on p-type OFETs, mainly due to their stability in air and relatively high mobility.

To ensure greater uptake of organic electronics for displays and other industries, the availability of a wider choice of high-performance materials must increase. Developing n-channel OFETs enables complementary circuit design, crucial for the fabrication of the next generation of large-scale, low-power, high-performance organic integrated circuits.

Technology transfer

A paper on the breakthrough will be published in the coming weeks. The centre will transfer the technology to Solvay, a Belgian industrial chemical company that is building up a strong portfolio in materials for plastic electronics applications.

To capitalise on the best research into OFETs in 2008 Solvay launched its 'Global Discovery Program' with COPE and several other research partners including, University of Washington, Princeton University, Imperial College London and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. The company has also been cooperating with the Holst Centre in the Netherlands since 2009.

Solvay also has investments and collaborations with partners developing OLED and organic photovoltaic materials and technology. Its OLED partnership with COPE started in 2006, three years after COPE was set up.

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