Lateral solidification of a liquid crystalline semiconductor film induced by temperature gradient

Derivatives of [1]benzothieno[3,2-b]benzothiophene (BTBT) are attracting much attention as a highly soluble, highmobility semiconductor material for thin-film transistor applications. These small molecules are known to organize themselves into a single crystalline structure after spin coating or drop casting. Charge transport in a single crystal material is anisotropic in nature. Hence, it is desired to control its orientation during growth or recrystallization so that the source and drain electrodes of a transistor are to be placed along a faster transport direction. We propose to generate temperature gradient in a heated liquid crystalline thin film to induce lateral recrystallization. In experiment, we tried two methods. First, an aluminum plate with two narrow ridges was inserted between a temperature-controlled stage and a square silicon substrate with a 200nm-thick SiO2 and a spin-coated C8-BTBT film. We raised the temperature of the stage to 120oC and let it cool gradually. During cooling at around 105oC , the color of the sample started to change, indicating a phase change. This change proceeded from the corners of the film and in about 30 seconds, darker regions merged at the center of the substrate. Second, the sample was placed at the edge of the stage. In this case, the color change started from the protruding corner of the sample and proceeded toward the other end. Micrograph observation revealed that cracks were formed in these films and they were perpendicular to the direction of the phase change.

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