Meso-epitaxial solution-growth of self-organizing discotic liquid-crystalline semiconductors

Direct processing from solution of organic semiconductors presents a new paradigm for low-cost device manufacture, and considerable progress was made using conjugated polymers for light-emitting diodes and displays. However, ordered thin films were required for efficient charge transport, and it became a challenge to establish optimal structural organization using small molecules. It was shown that substituted hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) can be processed from solution, to form films with supramolecularly ordered columnar stacks which lie parallel to the substrate and can be oriented uniaxially onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) alignment layers.