Acceptor-donor-acceptor conjugated oligomers based on diketopyrrolopyrrole and thienoacenes with four,five and six rings for organic thin-film transistors

Three acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) conjugated oligomers, i.e., O1, O2 and O3, have been synthesized using diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) as an electron-acceptor unit, and naphtho[1,2-b:5,6-b’]dithiophene (NDT), anthra[1,2-b:5,6-b’]dithiophene (ADT) or dithieno[3,2-b:3’,2’-b’]naphtho[1,2-b:5,6-b’]dithiophene (DTNDT) as electron-donor unit. These oligomers exhibit identical highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels, which were ca. ?5.1 and ?3.3 eV, respectively. Upon thermal annealing, all three oligomers formed thin films with ordered microstructures, and their organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) exhibited p-type transport behavior. The mobility was increased with an extension of the size of D-units. O3 showed the best OTFT performance with the mobility of up to 0.20 cm²·V^?1·s^?1. The film quality of O3 was improved by adding 1 wt% poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). In consequence, the mobility of the O3-based devices was further enhanced to 0.30 cm²·V^?1·s^?1.