Controllable-doping ambipolar conjugated polymeric semiconductors towards simplified-constructed organic logic circuits with excellent comprehensive performance

Organic electronics aims to simplify the construction of high-performance basic logic circuits for various applications. Ambipolar organic semiconductors, particularly ambipolar conjugated polymers, offer distinct advantages of easy solution-printing-based fabrication and low-cost development of large-area organic circuits. However, the narrow bandgaps of intrinsic ambipolar polymers result in the low current on/off ratio (generally 10 2 –10 3 ), impeding the generation of output signals with high accuracy and immunity, which are critical requirements for potential logic circuit applications. The quasi-unipolar transport properties for pristine well-balanced ambipolar polymers were obtained using a controllable-doping process, which resulted in a significant increase in current on/off ratios (10 5 –10 7 ) for both p-channel and n-channel thin-film transistors. Furthermore, large-area organic logic circuits such as NOT, NOR, and NAND gates were constructed using a direct writing technique based on the same ambipolar conjugated polymer films with superior p- and n-conducting channels by the controllable-doping process, demonstrating excellent overall performance with a high gain value of ∼150, signal noise margins of 68% and fast response to input voltages. This study provides valuable guidelines for improving the on/off ratio of ambipolar materials by implementing the doping strategy, further promoting the possibility of practical applications in solution-printed integrated organic circuits.