Effect of fluorine substitution on naphtho[2,1-b:3,4-b′]bis[1]-benzothiophene-derived semiconductors for transistor application

Abstract A novel series of air-stable, fluorinated naphtho [2,1- b :3,4- b ′]bis [1]-benzothiophenes bearing various lateral alkoxy-substituents, NBBTF- n ( n  = 8, 10, and 12) and its unsubstituted analogue, NBBT-10 were synthesized and investigated with field-effect transistor properties. Fluorine substitution affords desirable properties including high melting transition, high thermal stability and low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels for air-stable semiconductors. The OFET devices based on annealed NBBTF-10 films exhibit superior hole transport with mobility up to 0.35 cm 2  V −1  s −1 to that of NBBT-10, attributed to the close molecular stacking induced by fluorine substitution.