High electron mobility in a columnar phase of liquid-crystalline perylene tetracarboxylic bisimide bearing oligosiloxane chains

A liquid-crystalline (LC) semiconductor based on perylene tetracarboxylic bisimide (PTCBI) bearing four 1,1,1,3,3-pentamethyldisiloxane chains was synthesized. This LC PTCBI derivative exhibits ordered columnar phases and the low temperature columnar phase is retained below room temperature. The electron mobility in the ordered columnar phase of this compound at room temperature exceeds 0.1 cm(2) V-1 s(-1). Moreover, this compound is soluble in various organic solvents, except alcohols, and thin films in which the columnar aggregates are aligned parallel to the substrates are produced by spin-coating. In particular, LC thin films in which the columnar stacks are uniaxially oriented can be produced by a friction transfer method.