Development of Liquid-Crystalline Semiconductors with High Carrier Mobilities and Their Application to Thin-film Transistors

Carrier transport in liquid-crystal phases, design of liquid-crystalline semiconductors with high carrier mobilities, and their application to field-effect transistors are reviewed. High carrier mobility has been observed in the smectic phases of oligothiophene derivatives as well as in the columnar phases of triphenylene and hexabenzocoronene derivatives. The mobility increases with the molecular ordering in the mesophases and extension of the pi-conjugated system of the liquid-crystal molecules. Asymmetrically Substituted liquid-crystalline oligothiophene derivatives retain the highly ordered smectic phases below room temperature. The liquid crystals are solution-processable and can be used in high-performance field-effect transistors. The transistors exhibit high hole mobility and on/off ratio of 4 x 10(-2) cm(2) V-1 s(-1) and 10(7), respectively.