Influence of the oxidation level on the electronic, morphological and charge transport properties of novel dithienothiophene S-oxide and S,S-dioxide inner core oligomers

Novel inner-core dithienothiophene S-oxide and S,S-dioxide oligomers were designed and synthesized. The controlled oxidation at the central sulfur of the dithienothiophene core allows the combined tailoring of the HOMO–LUMO energies, thermal properties, and thin film morphology. Electrochemical measurements indicate that a marked decrease in electron affinity is obtained by addition of the first oxygen at the central sulfur, while addition of the second oxygen induces only minor effects on both the oxidation and reduction potentials. The newly synthesized materials exhibit high solubility in common organic solvents together with good film forming properties when deposited on SiO2 by solution-based techniques. Similar hole field effect transistor (FET) mobility for solutiondeposited and thermally-evaporated films together with FET performances independent of film morphology and molecular orientation call for non-conventional charge transport mechanisms.