Understanding the Meniscus‐Guided Coating Parameters in Organic Field‐Effect‐Transistor Fabrications

Meniscus‐guided coating (MGC) is mainly applicable on the soluble organic semiconductors with strong π–π overlap for achieving single‐crystalline organic thin films and high‐performance organic field‐effect‐transistors (OFETs). In this work, four elementary factors including shearing speed (v), solute concentration (c), deposition temperature (T), and solvent boiling point (Tb) are unified to analyze crystal growth behavior in the meniscus‐guided coating. By carefully varying and studying these four key factors, it is confirmed that v is the thickness regulation factor, while c is proportional to crystal growth rate. The MGC crystal growth rate is also correlated to latent heat (L) of solvents and deposition temperature in an Arrhenius form. The latent heat of solvents is proportional to Tb. The OFET channels grown by the optimized MGC parameters show uniform crystal morphology (Roughness Rq < 0.25 nm) with decent carrier mobilities (average µ = 5.88 cm2 V−1 s−1 and highest µ = 7.68 cm2 V−1 s−1). The studies provide a generalized formula to estimate the effects of these fabrication parameters, which can serve as crystal growth guidelines for the MGC approach. It is also an important cornerstone towards scaling up the OFETs for the sophisticated organic circuits or mass production. Elementary factors involved in meniscus‐guided coating are systematically studied to identify their roles during the semiconductor thin film deposition process. Mathematical equations are derived to unify the influence of shearing speed, solute concentration, deposition temperature, and solvent boiling point. The effect is further verified experimentally, which gives deep insight into thin film growth modulation.