Charge Transport Properties of a Metal-free Phthalocyanine Discotic Liquid Crystal

TL;DR

This paper investigates the charge transport properties of a metal-free discotic liquid crystal, demonstrating highly anisotropic semiconducting behavior with potential applications in organic photovoltaics.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental analysis of charge mobility in discotic liquid crystal films with perpendicular stacking, highlighting their anisotropic semiconducting properties.

Findings

Charge carrier mobility up to 2.8x10^{-3} cm^2/Vs.

Verification of highly anisotropic charge transport.

Potential for use in organic photovoltaic devices.

Abstract

Discotic liquid crystals can self-align to form one-dimensional semiconducting wires, many tens of microns long. In this letter, we describe the preparation of semiconducting films where the stacking direction of the disc-like molecules is perpendicular to the substrate surface. We present measurements of the charge carrier mobility, applying temperature-dependent time-of-flight transient photoconductivity, space-charge limited current measurements, and field-effect mobility measurements. We provide experimental verification of the highly anisotropic nature of semiconducting films of discotic liquid crystals, with charge carrier mobilities of up to 2.8x10$^{-3}$cm$^2$/Vs. These properties make discotics an interesting choice for applications such as organic photovoltaics.