Fast organic transistors the best of both worlds

The speed that electronics like your cell phone can achieve is largely governed by how fast electrons can move about within the transistors that make up its components. A recent collaboration between Physicists at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and Chemists at Imperial College London has produced a much faster organic transistor. Previous, transistors based on small organic molecules were difficult to fabrication because of unpredictable crystallization. Polymer-based organic transistors, on the other hand, have been hindered by low electron transport velocities. The new, faster, transistor uses a combination of the two. By layering small organic molecules on top of a polymer-based substrate, the researchers were able to get the best of both worlds, and fabricated organic transistors with unprecedented electron transport speeds. "In principle, this simple blend approach could lead to the development of organic transistors with performing characteristics well beyond the current state-of-the-art," added Dr. Anthopoulous, the head investigator of the Imperial College London group.