Photo‐Stable Organic Thin‐Film Transistor Utilizing a New Indolocarbazole Derivative for Image Pixel and Logic Applications

Small molecule pentacene layer has been a representative among many organic thin‐film transistor (OTFT) channels with decent p‐type mobilities, but it is certainly light‐sensitive due to its relatively small highest occupied molecular orbital‐lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO‐LUMO) gap (1.85 eV). Although a few other small molecule‐based layers have been reported later, their photo‐stabilities or related device applications have hardly been addressed. Here, a new photostable organic layer is reported, heptazole (C₂₆H₁₆N₂), which has almost the same HOMO level as that of pentacene but with a higher HOMO‐LUMO gap (≈2.95 eV). This heptazole OTFT displays a decent mobility comparable to that of conventional amorphous Si TFTs, showing good photostability unlike pentacene OTFTs. An image pixel driving the photostable heptazole OTFT connected to a pentacene/Al Schottky photodiode is demonstrated. This heptazole OTFT also conveniently forms a logic inverter coupled with a pentacene OTFT, sharing Au for source/drain.