Doped Organic Semiconductors: Trap-Filling, Impurity Saturation, and Reserve Regimes

A typical human being carries billions of silicon-based field-effect transistors in his/her pockets. What makes these transistors work is Fermi level control, both by doping and field effect. Organic semiconductors are the core of a novel flexible electronics age, but the key effect of doping is still little understood. Here, precise handling is demonstrated for molar doping ratios as low as 10(-5) in p- and n-doped organic thin-films by vacuum co-sublimation, allowing comprehensive studying of the Fermi level control over the whole electronic gap of an organic semiconductor. In particular, dopant saturation and reserve regimes are observed for the first time in organic semiconductors. These results will allow for completely new design rules of organic transistors with improved long term stability and precise parameter control.