Growth front nucleation of rubrene thin films for high mobility organic transistors

We demonstrate a mode of thin film growth in which amorphous islands crystallize into highly oriented platelets. A cascade of crystallization is observed, in which platelets growing outward from a central nucleation point impinge on neighboring amorphous islands and provide a seed for further nucleation. Through control of growth parameters, it is possible to produce high quality thin films which are well suited to the formation of organic transistors. We demonstrate this through the fabrication of rubrene thin film transistors with high carrier mobility.