Identifying Material-Specific Detrimental Charge-Transport Phonons for the Optimization of Organic Semiconductors

Organic semiconductors offer a number of benefits over traditional silicon based semiconductors, such as the possibility of flexible and transparent devices. Moreover, organic semiconductors can be readily synthesized from solution in high yields, circumventing the high energetic costs associated with the manufacturing process of monocrystalline silicon. Major concerns facing organic semiconductors are low and highly variable charge-carrier mobilities, an integral property of semiconducting materials. Previous works have demonstrated a link between low-frequency vibrations and the charge-carrier mobility of a material, emphasizing the effect of translational modes. The results of this study highlight kinds of motions, expanding upon the known class of vibrational modes detrimental to semiconducting behavior.