Room‐Temperature‐Operated Ultrasensitive Broadband Photodetectors by Perovskite Incorporated with Conjugated Polymer and Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes

In this work, room‐temperature‐operated ultrasensitive solution‐processed perovskite photodetectors (PDs) with near infrared (NIR) photoresponse are reported. In order to enable perovskite PDs possessing extended NIR photoresponse, novel n‐type low bandgap conjugated polymer, poly[(N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐1,4,5,8‐naphthalene diimide‐2,6‐diyl) (2,5‐dioctyl‐3,6‐di(thiophen‐2‐yl)pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,4‐dione‐5,5′‐diyl)] (NDI‐DPP), which has strong absorption in the NIR region, is developed and then employed in perovskite PDs. By the formation of type II band alignment between NDI‐DPP with single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), the NIR absorption of NDI‐DPP is exploited, which contributes to the NIR photoresponse for the perovskite PDs, where perovskite is incorporated with NDI‐DPP and SWCNTs as well. In addition, SWCNTs incorporated with perovskite active layer can offer the percolation pathways for high charge‐carrier mobility, which tremendously boosts the charge transfer in the photoactive layer, and consequently improves the photocurrent in the visible region. As a result, the perovskite PDs exhibit the responsivities of ≈400 and ≈150 mA W^?1 and the detectivities of over 6 × 10¹² Jones (1 Jones = 1 cm Hz^1/2 W^?1) and over 2 × 10¹² Jones in the visible and NIR regions, respectively. This work reports the development of perovskite PDs with NIR photoresponse, which is terrifically beneficial for the practical applications of perovskite PDs.     

High‐Performance Phototransistors Based on Single‐Crystalline n‐Channel Organic Nanowires and Photogenerated Charge‐Carrier Behaviors

The photoelectronic characteristics of single‐crystalline nanowire organic phototransistors (NW‐OPTs) are studied using a high‐performance n‐channel organic semiconductor, N,N′‐bis(2‐phenylethyl)‐perylene‐3,4:9,10‐tetracarboxylic diimide (BPE‐PTCDI), as the photoactive layer. The optoelectronic performances of the NW‐OPTs are analyzed by way of their current–voltage (I–V) characteristics on irradiation at different wavelengths, and comparison with corresponding thin‐film organic phototransistors (OPTs). Significant enhancement in the charge‐carrier mobility of NW‐OPTs is observed upon light irradiation as compared with when performed in the dark. A mobility enhancement is observed when the incident optical power density increases and the wavelength of the light source matches the light‐absorption range of the photoactive material. The photoswitching ratio is strongly dependent upon the incident optical power density, whereas the photoresponsivity is more dependent on matching the light‐source wavelength with the maximum absorption range of the photoactive material. BPE‐PTCDI NW‐OPTs exhibit much higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) values (≈7900 times larger) than thin‐film OPTs, with a maximum EQE of 263 000%. This is attributed to the intrinsically defect‐free single‐crystalline nature of the BPE‐PTCDI NWs. In addition, an approach is devised to analyze the charge‐transport behaviors using charge accumulation/release rates from deep traps under on/off switching of external light sources.     

n‐Doping of a Low‐Electron‐Affinity Polymer Used as an Electron‐Transport Layer in Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes

n‐Doping electron‐transport layers (ETLs) increases their conductivity and improves electron injection into organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). Because of the low electron affinity and large bandgaps of ETLs used in green and blue OLEDs, n‐doping has been notoriously more difficult for these materials. In this work, n‐doping of the polymer poly[(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐2,7‐diyl)‐alt‐(benzo[2,1,3]thiadiazol‐4,7‐diyl)] (F8BT) is demonstrated via solution processing, using the air‐stable n‐dopant (pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)(1,3,5‐trimethylbenzene)ruthenium dimer [RuCp*Mes]₂. Undoped and doped F8BT films are characterized using ultraviolet and inverse photoelectron spectroscopy. The ionization energy and electron affinity of the undoped F8BT are found to be 5.8 and 2.8 eV, respectively. Upon doping F8BT with [RuCp*Mes]₂, the Fermi level shifts to within 0.25 eV of the F8BT lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, which is indicative of n‐doping. Conductivity measurements reveal a four orders of magnitude increase in the conductivity upon doping and irradiation with ultraviolet light. The [RuCp*Mes]₂‐doped F8BT films are incorporated as an ETL into phosphorescent green OLEDs, and the luminance is improved by three orders of magnitude when compared to identical devices with an undoped F8BT ETL.     

A High‐k Fluorinated P(VDF‐TrFE)‐g‐PMMA Gate Dielectric for High‐Performance Flexible Field‐Effect Transistors

A newly synthesized high‐k polymeric insulator for use as gate dielectric layer for organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) obtained by grafting poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF‐TrFE)) via atom transfer radical polymerization transfer is reported. This material design concept intents to tune the electrical properties of the gate insulating layer (capacitance, leakage current, breakdown voltage, and operational stability) of the high‐k fluorinated polymer dielectric without a large increase in operating voltage by incorporating an amorphous PMMA as an insulator. By controlling the grafted PMMA percentage, an optimized P(VDF‐TrFE)‐g‐PMMA with 7 mol% grafted PMMA showing reasonably high capacitance (23–30 nF cm^?2) with low voltage operation and negligible current hysteresis is achieved. High‐performance low‐voltage‐operated top‐gate/bottom‐contact OFETs with widely used high mobility polymer semiconductors, poly[[2,5‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐2,3,5,6‐tetrahydro‐3,6‐dioxopyrrolo [3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,4‐diyl]‐alt‐[[2,2′‐(2,5‐thiophene)bis‐thieno(3,2‐b)thiophene]‐5,5′‐diyl]] (DPPT‐TT), and poly([N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐naphthalene‐1,4,5,8‐bis(dicarboximide)‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐5,5′‐(2,2′‐bithiophene)) are demonstrated here. DPPT‐TT OFETs with P(VDF‐TrFE)‐g‐PMMA gate dielectrics exhibit a reasonably high field‐effect mobility of over 1 cm² V^?1 s^?1 with excellent operational stability.     

Naphthothiadiazole‐Based Near‐Infrared Emitter with a Photoluminescence Quantum Yield of 60% in Neat Film and External Quantum Efficiencies of up to 3.9% in Nondoped OLEDs

Fluorescent emitters have regained intensive attention in organic light emitting diode (OLED) community owing to the breakthrough of the device efficiency and/or new emitting mechanism. This provides a good chance to develop new near‐infrared (NIR) fluorescent emitter and high‐efficiency device. In this work, a D‐π‐A‐π‐D type compound with naphthothiadiazole as acceptor, namely, 4,4′‐(naphtho[2,3‐c][1,2,5]thiadiazole‐4,9‐diyl)bis(N,N ‐diphenylaniline) (NZ2TPA), is designed and synthesized. The photophysical study and density functional theory analysis reveal that the emission of the compound has obvious hybridized local and charge‐transfer (HLCT) state feature. In addition, the compound shows aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) characteristic. Attributed to its HLCT mechanism and AIE characteristic, NZ2TPA acquires an unprecedentedly high photoluminescent quantum yield of 60% in the neat film, which is the highest among the reported organic small‐molecule NIR emitters and even exceeds most phosphorescent NIR materials. The nondoped devices based on NZ2TPA exhibit excellent performance, achieving a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 3.9% with the emission peak at 696 nm and a high luminance of 6330 cd m^?2, which are among the highest in the reported nondoped NIR fluorescent OLEDs. Moreover, the device remains a high EQE of 2.8% at high brightness of 1000 cd m^?2, with very low efficiency roll‐off.     

Systematic Study of Widely Applicable N‐Doping Strategy for High‐Performance Solution‐Processed Field‐Effect Transistors

A specific design for solution‐processed doping of active semiconducting materials would be a powerful strategy in order to improve device performance in flexible and/or printed electronics. Tetrabutylammonium fluoride and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide contain Lewis base anions, F^? and OH^?, respectively, which are considered as organic dopants for efficient and cost‐effective n‐doping processes both in n‐type organic and nanocarbon‐based semiconductors, such as poly[[N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐naphthalene‐1,4,5,8‐bis(dicarboximide)‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐5,5′‐(2,2′‐bithiophene)] (P(NDI2OD‐T2)) and selectively dispersed semiconducting single‐walled carbon nanotubes by π‐conjugated polymers. The dramatic enhancement of electron transport properties in field‐effect transistors is confirmed by the effective electron transfer from the dopants to the semiconductors as well as controllable onset and threshold voltages, convertible charge‐transport polarity, and simultaneously showing excellent device stabilities under ambient air and bias stress conditions. This simple solution‐processed chemical doping approach could facilitate the understanding of both intrinsic and extrinsic charge transport characteristics in organic semiconductors and nanocarbon‐based materials, and is thus widely applicable for developing high‐performance organic and printed electronics and optoelectronics devices.     

High‐Mobility and Low Turn‐On Voltage n‐Channel OTFTs Based on a Solution‐Processable Derivative of Naphthalene Bisimide

In organic electronics solution‐processable n‐channel field‐effect transistors (FETs) matching the parameters of the best p‐channel FETs are needed. Progress toward the fabrication of such devices is strongly impeded by a limited number of suitable organic semiconductors as well as by the lack of processing techniques that enable strict control of the supramolecular organization in the deposited layer. Here, the use of N,N′‐bis(4‐n‐butylphenyl)‐1,4,5,8‐naphthalenetetracarboxylic‐1,4:5,8‐bisimide (NBI‐4‐n‐BuPh) for fabrication of n‐channel FETs is described. The unidirectionally oriented crystalline layers of NBI‐4‐n‐BuPh are obtained by the zone‐casting method under ambient conditions. Due to the bottom‐contact, top‐gate configuration used, the gate dielectric, Parylene C, also acts as a protective layer. This, together with a sufficiently low LUMO level of NBI‐4‐n‐BuPh allows the fabrication and operation of these novel n‐channel transistors under ambient conditions. The high order of the NBI‐4‐n‐BuPh molecules in the zone‐cast layer and high purity of the gate dielectric yield good performance of the transistors.     

High‐Mobility n‐Type Organic Transistors Based on a Crystallized Diketopyrrolopyrrole Derivative

A new high‐performing small molecule n‐channel semiconductor based on diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP), 2,2′‐(5,5′‐(2,5‐bis(2‐ethylhexyl)‐3,6‐dioxo‐2,3,5,6‐tetrahydropyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐1,4‐diyl)bis(thiophene‐5,2‐diyl))bis(methan‐1‐yl‐1‐ylidene)dimalononitrile (DPP‐T‐DCV), is successfully synthesized. The frontier molecular orbitals in this designed structure are elaborately tuned by introducing a strong electron‐accepting functionality (dicyanovinyl). The well‐defined lamellar structures of the crystals display a uniform terrace step height corresponding to a molecular monolayer in the solid‐state. As a result of this tuning and the remarkable crystallinity derived from the conformational planarity, organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) based on dense‐packed solution‐processed single‐crystals of DPP‐T‐DCV exhibit an electron mobility (μ_e) up to 0.96 cm² V^?1 s^?1, one of the highest values yet obtained for DPP derivative‐based n‐channel OFETs. Polycrystalline OFETs show promise (with an μ_e up to 0.64 cm² V^?1 s^?1) for practical utility in organic device applications.     

Binaphthyl‐Containing Green‐ and Red‐Emitting Molecules for Solution‐Processable Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes

Strong intermolecular interactions usually result in decreases in solubility and fluorescence efficiency of organic molecules. Therefore, amorphous materials are highly pursued when designing solution‐processable, electroluminescent organic molecules. In this paper, a non‐planar binaphthyl moiety is presented as a way of reducing intermolecular interactions and four binaphthyl‐containing molecules ( BNCM s): green‐emitting BBB and TBT as well as red‐emitting BTBTB and TBBBT , are designed and synthesized. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the molecules are systematically investigated and it is found that TBT , TBBBT , and BTBTB solutions show high photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiencies of 0.41, 0.54, and 0.48, respectively. Based on the good solubility and amorphous film‐forming ability of the synthesized BNCM s, double‐layer structured organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) with BNCM s as emitting layer and poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVK) or a blend of poly[N,N′‐bis(4‐butylphenyl)‐N,N′‐bis(phenyl)benzidine] and PVK as hole‐transporting layer are fabricated by a simple solution spin‐coating procedure. Amongst those, the BTBTB based OLED, for example, reaches a high maximum luminance of 8315 cd · m⁻² and a maximum luminous efficiency of 1.95 cd · A⁻¹ at a low turn‐on voltage of 2.2 V. This is one of the best performances of a spin‐coated OLED reported so far. In addition, by doping the green and red BNCM s into a blue‐emitting host material poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐2,7‐diyl) high performance white light‐emitting diodes with pure white light emission and a maximum luminance of 4000 cd · m⁻² are realized.     

Very Low Degree of Energetic Disorder as the Origin of High Mobility in an n‐channel Polymer Semiconductor

Charge transport is investigated in high‐mobility n‐channel organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) based on poly{[N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐naphthalene‐1,4,5,8‐bis(dicarboximide)‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐5,5′‐(2,2′‐bithiophene)} (P(NDI2OD‐T2), Polyera ActivInk? N2200) with variable‐temperature electrical measurements and charge‐modulation spectroscopy. Results indicate an unusually uniform energetic landscape of sites for charge‐carrier transport along the channel of the transistor as the main reason for the observed high‐electron mobility. Consistent with a lateral field‐independent transport at temperatures down to 10 K, the reorganization energy is proposed to play an important role in determining the activation energy for the mobility. Quantum chemical calculations, which show an efficient electronic coupling between adjacent units and a reorganization energy of a few hundred meV, are consistent with these findings.     

Light‐Emitting Electrochemical Cells Based on Color‐Tunable Inorganic Colloidal Quantum Dots

Large‐area, ultrathin light‐emitting devices currently inspire architects and interior and automotive designers all over the world. Light‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) and quantum dot light‐emitting diodes (QD‐LEDs) belong to the most promising next‐generation device concepts for future flexible and large‐area lighting technologies. Both concepts incorporate solution‐based fabrication techniques, which makes them attractive for low cost applications based on, for example, roll‐to‐roll fabrication or inkjet printing. However, both concepts have unique benefits that justify their appeal. LECs comprise ionic species in the active layer, which leads to the omission of additional organic charge injection and transport layers and reactive cathode materials, thus LECs impress with their simple device architecture. QD‐LEDs impress with purity and opulence of available colors: colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are semiconducting nanocrystals that show high yield light emission, which can be easily tuned over the whole visible spectrum by material composition and size. Emerging technologies that unite the potential of both concepts (LEC and QD‐LED) are covered, either by extending a typical LEC architecture with additional QDs, or by replacing the entire organic LEC emitter with QDs or perovskite nanocrystals, still keeping the easy LEC setup featured by the incorporation of mobile ions.     

An Alternative Approach to Constructing Solution Processable Multifunctional Materials: Their Structure,Properties, and Application in High‐Performance Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes

A new series of full hydrocarbons, namely 4,4′‐(9,9′‐(1,3‐phenylene)bis(9H‐fluorene‐9,9‐diyl))bis(N,N‐diphenylaniline) (DTPAFB), N,N′‐(4,4′‐(9,9′‐(1,3‐phenylene)bis(9H‐fluorene‐9,9‐diyl))bis(4,1‐phenylene))bis(N‐phenylnaphthalen‐1‐amine) (DNPAFB), 1,3‐bis(9‐(4‐(9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)phenyl)‐9H‐fluoren‐9‐yl)benzene, and 1,3‐bis(9‐(4‐(3,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)phenyl)‐9H‐fluoren‐9‐yl)benzene, featuring a highly twisted tetrahedral conformation, are designed and synthesized. Organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) comprising DNPAFB and DTPAFB as hole transporting layers and tris(quinolin‐8‐yloxy)aluminum as an emitter are made either by vacuum deposition or by solution processing, and show much higher maximum efficiencies than the commonly used N,N′‐di(naphthalen‐1‐yl)‐N,N′‐diphenylbiphenyl‐4,4′‐diamine device (3.6 cd A^?1) of 7.0 cd A^?1 and 6.9 cd A^?1, respectively. In addition, the solution processed blue phosphorescent OLEDs employing the synthesized materials as hosts and iridium (III) bis[(4,6‐di‐fluorophenyl)‐pyridinato‐N, C²] picolinate (FIrpic) phosphor as an emitter present exciting results. For example, the DTPAFB device exhibits a brightness of 47 902 cd m^?2, a maximum luminescent efficiency of 24.3 cd A^?1, and a power efficiency of 13.0 lm W^?1. These results show that the devices are among the best solution processable blue phosphorescent OLEDs based on small molecules. Moreover, a new approach to constructing solution processable small molecules is proposed based on rigid and bulky fluorene and carbazole moieties combined in a highly twisted configuration, resulting in excellent solubility as well as chemical miscibility, without the need to introduce any solubilizing group such as an alkyl or alkoxy chain.     

High‐Performance UV–Vis–NIR Phototransistors Based on Single‐Crystalline Organic Semiconductor–Gold Hybrid Nanomaterials

Hybrid materials in optoelectronic devices can generate new functionality or provide synergistic effects that enhance the properties of each component. Here, high‐performance phototransistors with broad spectral responsivity in UV–vis–near‐infrared (NIR) regions, using gold nanorods (Au NRs)‐decorated n‐type organic semiconductor and N ,N ′‐bis(2‐phenylethyl)‐perylene‐3,4:9,10‐tetracarboxylic diimide (BPE‐PTCDI) nanowires (NWs) are reported. By way of the synergistic effect of the excellent photo‐conducting characteristics of single‐crystalline BPE‐PTCDI NW and the light scattering and localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) of Au NRs, the hybrid system provides new photo‐detectivity in the NIR spectral region. In the UV–vis region, hybrid nanomaterial‐based phototransistors exhibit significantly enhanced photo‐responsive properties with a photo‐responsivity (R ) of 7.70 × 10⁵ A W^?1 and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 1.42 × 10⁸% at the minimum light intensity of 2.5 µW cm^?2, which are at least tenfold greater than those of pristine BPE‐PTCDI NW‐based ones and comparable to those of high‐performance inorganic material‐based devices. While a pristine BPE‐PTCDI NW‐based photodetector is insensitive to the NIR spectral region, the hybrid NW‐based phototransistor shows an R of 10.7 A W^?1 and EQE of 1.35 × 10³% under 980 nm wavelength‐NIR illumination. This work demonstrates a viable approach to high‐performance photo‐detecting systems with broad spectral responsivity.     

Integration of a Rib Waveguide Distributed Feedback Structure into a Light‐Emitting Polymer Field‐Effect Transistor

Ambipolar light‐emitting organic field‐effect transistors (LEFETs) possess the ability to efficiently emit light due to charge recombination in the channel. Since the emission can be made to occur far from the metal electrodes, the LEFET structure has been proposed as a potential architecture for electrically pumped organic lasers. Here, a rib waveguide distributed feedback structure consisting of tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅) integrated within the channel of a top gate/bottom contact LEFET based on poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐alt‐benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) is demonstrated. The emitted light is coupled efficiently into the resonant mode of the DFB waveguide when the recombination zone of the LEFET is placed directly above the waveguide ridge. This architecture provides strong mode confinement in two dimensions. Mode simulations are used to optimize the dielectric thickness and gate electrode material. It is shown that electrode absorption losses within the device can be eliminated and that the lasing threshold for optical pumping of the LEFET structure with all electrodes (4.5 µJ cm^?2) is as low as that of reference devices without electrodes. These results enable quantitative judgement of the prospects for realizing an electrically pumped organic laser based on ambipolar LEFETs. The proposed device provides a powerful, low‐loss architecture for integrating high‐performance ambipolar organic semiconductor materials into electrically pumped lasing structures.     

Highly Efficient Solid‐State Near‐Infrared Emitting Material Based on Triphenylamine and Diphenylfumaronitrile with an EQE of 2.58% in Nondoped Organic Light‐Emitting Diode

The development of efficient near‐infrared (NIR) emitting material is of current focus. Donor–acceptor (D–A) architecture has been proved to be an effective strategy to obtain narrow energy gap. Herein, a D–A‐type NIR fluorescent compound 2,3‐bis(4′‐(diphenylamino)‐[1,1′‐biphenyl]‐4‐yl)fumaronitrile (TPATCN) is synthesized and fully characterized. As revealed by theoretical calculations and photophysical experiments, TPATCN exerts the advantages of the relatively large dipole moment of the charge transfer state and a certain degree of orbital overlap of the local excited state. A highly mixed or hybrid local and charge transfer excited state might occur to simultaneously achieve both a large fraction of singlet formation and a high quantum efficiency in D–A system. TPATCN exhibits strong NIR fluorescence with the corresponding thin film quantum efficiency of 33% and the crystal efficiency of 72%. Remarkably, the external quantum efficiency of nondoped NIR organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) reaches 2.58% and remains fairly constant over a range of 100–300 mA cm^?2, which is among the best results for NIR OLEDs reported so far.     

Organic Tribotronic Transistor for Contact‐Electrification‐Gated Light‐Emitting Diode

Tribotronics is a new field about the devices fabricated using the electrostatic potential created by contact electrification as a “gate” voltage to tune/control charge carrier transport in semiconductors. In this paper, an organic tribotronic transistor is proposed by coupling an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) and a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) in vertical contact‐separation mode. Instead of using the traditional gate voltage for controlling, the charge carrier transportation in the OTFT can be modulated by the contact‐induced electrostatic potential of the TENG. By further coupling with an organic light‐emitting diode, a contact‐electrification‐gated light‐emitting diode (CG‐LED) is fabricated, in which the operating current and light‐emission intensity can be tuned/controlled by an external force–induced contact electrification. Two different modes of the CG‐LED have been demonstrated and the brightness can be decreased and increased by the applied physical contact, respectively. Different from the conventional organic light‐emitting transistor controlled by an electrical signal, the CG‐LED has realized the direct interaction between the external environment/stimuli and the electroluminescence device. By introducing optoelectronics into tribotronics, the CG‐LED has open up a new field of tribophototronics with many potential applications in interactive display, mechanical imaging, micro‐opto‐electro‐mechanical systems, and flexible/touch optoelectronics.     

High‐Transconductance Organic Thin‐Film Electrochemical Transistors for Driving Low‐Voltage Red‐Green‐Blue Active Matrix Organic Light‐Emitting Devices

Switching and control of efficient red, green, and blue active matrix organic light‐emitting devices (AMOLEDs) by printed organic thin‐film electrochemical transistors (OETs) are demonstrated. These all‐organic pixels are characterized by high luminance at low operating voltages and by extremely small transistor dimensions with respect to the OLED active area. A maximum brightness of ≈900 cd m^?2 is achieved at diode supply voltages near 4 V and pixel selector (gate) voltages below 1 V. The ratio of OLED to OET area is greater than 100:1 and the pixels may be switched at rates up to 100 Hz. Essential to this demonstration are the use of a high capacitance electrolyte as the gate dielectric layer in the OETs, which affords extremely large transistor transconductances, and novel graded emissive layer (G‐EML) OLED architectures that exhibit low turn‐on voltages and high luminescence efficiency. Collectively, these results suggest that printed OETs, combined with efficient, low voltage OLEDs, could be employed in the fabrication of flexible full‐color AMOLED displays.     

Monitoring the Channel Formation in Organic Field‐Effect Transistors via Photoinduced Charge Transfer

Conducting channel formation in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) is considered to happen in the organic semiconductor layer very close to the interface with the gate dielectric. In the gradual channel approximation, the local density of accumulated charge carriers varies as a result of applied gate bias, with the majority of the charge carriers being localized in the first few semiconductor monolayers close to the dielectric interface. In this report, a new concept is employed which enables the accumulation of charge carriers in the channel by photoinduced charge transfer. An OFET employing C₆₀ as a semiconductor and divinyltetramethyldisiloxane‐bis(benzocyclobutene) as the gate dielectric is modified by a very thin noncontinuous layer of zinc‐phthalocyanine (ZnPc) at the semiconductor/dielectric interface. With this device geometry, it is possible to excite the phthalocyanine selectively and photogenerate charges directly at the semiconductor/dielectric interface via photoinduced electron transfer from ZnPc onto C₆₀. Thus the formation of a gate induced and a photoinduced channel in the same device can be correlated.     

Printed,Flexible, Organic Nano‐Floating‐Gate Memory: Effects of Metal Nanoparticles and Blocking Dielectrics on Memory Characteristics

The effects of using a blocking dielectric layer and metal nanoparticles (NPs) as charge‐trapping sites on the characteristics of organic nano‐floating‐gate memory (NFGM) devices are investigated. High‐performance NFGM devices are fabricated using the n‐type polymer semiconductor, poly{[N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐naphthalene‐1,4,5,8‐bis(dicarboximide)‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐5,5′‐(2,2′‐bithiophene)} (P(NDI2OD‐T2)), and various metal NPs. These NPs are embedded within bilayers of various polymer dielectrics (polystyrene (PS)/poly(4‐vinyl phenol) (PVP) and PS/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)). The P(NDI2OD‐T2) organic field‐effect transistor (OFET)‐based NFGM devices exhibit high electron mobilities (0.4–0.5 cm² V^?1 s^?1) and reliable non‐volatile memory characteristics, which include a wide memory window (≈52 V), a high on/off‐current ratio (I_on/I_off ≈ 10⁵), and a long extrapolated retention time (>10⁷ s), depending on the choice of the blocking dielectric (PVP or PMMA) and the metal (Au, Ag, Cu, or Al) NPs. The best memory characteristics are achieved in the ones fabricated using PMMA and Au or Ag NPs. The NFGM devices with PMMA and spatially well‐distributed Cu NPs show quasi‐permanent retention characteristics. An inkjet‐printed flexible P(NDI2OD‐T2) 256‐bit transistor memory array (16 × 16 transistors) with Au‐NPs on a polyethylene naphthalate substrate is also fabricated. These memory devices in array exhibit a high I_on/I_off (≈10^{4 ± 0.85}), wide memory window (≈43.5 V ± 8.3 V), and a high degree of reliability.     

Multifunctional Biomedical Imaging in Physiological and Pathological Conditions Using a NIR‐II Probe

Compared with imaging in the visible (400–650 nm) and near‐infrared window I (NIR‐I, 650–900 nm) regions, imaging in near‐infrared window II (NIR‐II, 1000–1700 nm) is a highly promising in vivo imaging modality with improved resolution and deeper tissue penetration. Here, a small molecule NIR‐II dye,5,5′‐(1H,5H‐benzo[1,2‐c:4,5‐c′] bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole)‐4,8‐diyl)bis(N,N‐bis(4‐(3‐((tert‐butyldimethylsilyl)oxy)propyl)phenyl) thiophen‐2‐amine), is successfully encapsulated into phospholipid vesicles to prepare a probe CQS1000. The novel NIR‐II probe is studied for in vivo multifunctional biological imaging. The results of this study indicate that the NIR‐II vesicle CQS1000 can noninvasively and dynamically visualize and monitor many physiological and pathological conditions of circulatory systems, including lymphatic drainage and routing, angiogenesis of tumor, and vascular deformity such as arterial thrombus formation and ischemia with high spatial and temporal resolution. More importantly, by virtue of the favorable half‐life of blood circulation of CQS1000, NIR‐II imaging is capable of aiding precise resection of tumor such as osteosarcoma and accelerating the process of lymph node dissection to complete sentinel lymph node biopsy for better decision making during the tumor surgery. Overall, CQS1000 is a highly promising NIR‐II probe for multifunctional biomedical imaging in physiological and pathological conditions, surpassing traditional NIR‐I imaging modality and pathologic assessments for clinical diagnosis and treatment.