Organic thin film transistors as plastic chiral sensors

Organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) sensors have been recently attracting the attention for their potential exploitation as novel sensors. Specificity and sensitivity are still open issues. Chiral discrimination is both a scientific and technological achievement in itself and, indeed, one of the most challenging sensor's bench-test. In the present work, a chiral bilayer OTFT gas sensor-comprising an outermost layer with built in enantioselective properties-is demonstrated to exhibit field-effect amplified sensitivity that allows differential detection of optical isomers in the tens part-per-million (ppm) concentration range. The ad hoc designed organic semiconductor, endowed with chiral side groups, the bilayer structure and the TFT transducer, provide a significant step further in the development of a performing and versatile sensing platform compatible with flexible organic electronic technologies. © 2008 IEEE.