A Persistent Challenge in Organic Electronics: How Does Structure Affect Electronic Transport?

Linking microstructure to transport remains the grand challenge preventing the rational design of new organic semiconductors. Indeed overcoming this hurdle might unleash the full power of organic synthesis to make materials with “designer” properties, be they electronic, excitonic or ionic transport. We have spent years developing complementary techniques that allow us to analyze the microstructure at different length-scales and from complementary points of view. In particular, the use of XRD, TEM and IR/UV-Vis spectroscopy allows to understand order from the molecular to the device level. We use these techniques coupled with transport measurements to understand the role of intra vs. interchain order as well as mesoscale order. These techniques can be extended to mixed conductors where the electrolyte controls order and provides one more knob to study the relationship between order and transport.