Organic semi-conducting architectures for supramolecular electronics

The properties of organic electronic materials in the solid-state are determined not only by those of individual molecules but also by those of ensembles of molecules. The ability to control the architectures of these ensembles is thus essential for optimizing the properties of conjugated materials for use in electronic devices (light emitting diodes, field effect transistors, solar cells,...) and is primordial for potential technological applications in nanoelectronics. Here, we report on the observation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) of 1D and 2D nanoscale architectures obtained in the solid-state from solutions of molecularly-dissolved conjugated block copolymers or oligomers, and demonstrate that the conjugated molecules can organize onto a surface over lengthscales from nanometers to several microns, forming semiconducting fibrils or bi-dimensional organizations (monolayers) by pi-stacking processes (by changing the sample preparation conditions). (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.