Book Chapter - Organic Semiconductor Materials

At present, a number of classes of organic semiconductors have been discovered, ranging from "small" molecules based on (hetero)aromatic rings, conjugated polymers, and hybrid organic-inorganic structures, to truly molecular semiconductors such as buckyballs and nanotubes. These results generated an exciting library of systems, which allowed the organic electronic solid state community to draw important relations between molecular structure and structural organization in the solid state, film morphology, and ultimately, electrical performance. In addition, a wealth of new physical phenomena can be revealed by systematically studying sets of these compounds. In this and the following discussion, we present key members of different classes of organic semiconductors with particular emphasis on the basic symmetric methods used to prepare them.