The Design and Synthesis of Oligothiophene Substituted Semiconductors

The objective of this research project is the synthesis of organic molecules that will crystallize into packing motifs considered optimal for high performance in thin film field effect transistors (FETs). The primary synthetic targets will be oligothiophenes equipped with phenyl substituents at the termini that serve as "molecular clamps" capable of optimizing p-p overlap of oligothiophene cores in the crystalline state. Single crystals of these targets will be characterized by X-ray diffraction to elucidate the role of the molecular clamps in crystal packing. Materials for mobility measurements will be identified based on important crystal attributes, including small interplanar separations between the oligothiophene cores and a propensity to form plate-like crystal habits that will naturally form thin film morphologies on the FET platform.