Reinvestigation of carrier transport properties in liquid crystalline 2-phenylbenzothiazole derivatives

We have reinvestigated the charge.carrier transport properties in a liquid crystal of 2-(4'-heptyloxyphenyl)6-dodecylthiobenzothiazole (7O-PBT-S12), for which the electronic conduction was first established in rodlike liquid crystals and for which the highest hole mobility in the smectic A (SmA) phase ever achieved was reported. We found that 7O-PBT-SI2 exhibited three crystal phases, one of which appeared in a limited temperature range of 10' just below the phase transition temperature from the SmA phase. In this crystal phase, nondispersive transient photohole currents were observed in time-of-flight experiments, and its hole mobility was determined to be 8 x 10-(3) cm(2)/Vs, slightly higher than that reported previously in the SmA phase. For the SmA phase, however, the hole mobility was 1 x 10-(4) cm(2)/Vs. Furthermore,, we established the electron transport in the SmA phase of purified 7O-PBT-Sl2, whose mobility was the same as the hole mobility in that phase. In order to confirm generality of the new findings in 7O-PBT-SI2, we investigated the carrier transport properties of its derivative having a short hydrocarbon chain, 2-(4'-heptyloxyphenyl)6-butylthiobenzothiazole (7O-PBT-S4), and obtained comparable results. The present results correct a mistake in the previous report and give an idea of what a typical mobility in the SmA phase is. On the basis of these results, we discuss what determines the charge carrier mobility in smectic mesophases.