Mesoscopic Materials Group


Group Outline

We develop advanced functional materials toward promoting flexible and printed electronics. Main subjects are to develop solution-processible electronic materials, innovative printing processes, and advanced measurement techniques for improving performance of printed devices. We also try to develop new materials function such as biocompatibility, antivirus, and antibacterial functions, as well as to adapt materials informatics and process informatics to solution-processible electronic materials.


Key Themes of Research

- Developing new functions and solution-processibility for organic semiconductors, organic ferroelectrics, two-dimensional layered materials, metal nanoparticles, and photo-functional materials.

- Developing innovative printing processes to realize high performance, high durability, and homogeneous characteristics for printed electronic devices.

- Developing advanced measurement techniques for quality improvement of printed devices, as well as modifying these techniques toward advanced biosensing.


Major Achievements

1.Organic ferroelectrics

Organic ferroelectric material with world highest polarization (30 μC / cm2)



2.Printing single-crystal thin films of organic semiconductor

Double-shot inkjet printing of single-crystal OTFTs with the mobility higher than amorphous silicon.



3. Printing ultrafine conductive pattern

SuPR-NaP method enabling spontaneous formation of ultrafine (0.8 μm) conductive silver pattern



4.Visualization of device operation

Time-resolved gate modulation imaging technique unvailing microscopic charge transport dynamics in thin-film transistor.


Our Technologies and Equipment

Organic synthesis, Thin film deposition techniques (vacuum deposition, inkjet printing, blade coating, spin coating), Calorimetry, X-ray diffraction analysis, Electric measurement (transistor characteristics, ferroelectric characteristics, impedance spectroscopy), Electrochemical measurement, Microspectrophotometry (UV-vis, infrared, Raman), Fluorescence spectroscopy, Modulation imaging, Scanning probe microscopy

Articles

  1. Sunami et al., "Unveiling High Electro-Optic Performance in a Proton-p-Electron-Coupled Ferroelectric Crystal" Adv. Electron. Mater. 10, 2400346 (2024).
  2. Higashino et al., "Effects of Thiophene-Fused Isomer on High-Layered Crystallinity in π-Extended and Alkylated Organic Semiconductors" Chem. Mater. 36,848 (2024).
  3. Tsutsumi et al., "Visualization of invisible cell-death sign by electric-double-layer modulation" Biosens. Bioelectron.: X ,14, 100390 (2023).
  4. Sonoda et al., "Synthesis, characterization, and fluorescence properties of a series of trifluoromethylated diphenylhexatrienes" J. Fluor. Chem. 267, 110110 (2023).
  5. Horiuchi et al., "Competition of Polar and Antipolar States Hidden Behind a Variety of Polarization Switching Modes in Hydrogen-Bonded Molecular Chains" Mater. Horiz. 10, 2149 (2023).
  6. Kurosu et al., "Label-free visualization of nano-thick biomolecular binding by electric-double-layer modulation" Sens. Actuators B Chem. 382, 133548 (2023).
  7. Sonoda et al., "Singlet Fission in Solid 1,6-Diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene Dicarboxylic Acids and Esters: Effects of Meta and Para Substitution" J. Phys. Chem. C 126, 8742 (2022).
  8. Horiuchi et al., "Ferroelectric Polarization of Hydrogen-Bonded Chains in Phenols: Hydroxyl Flip-Flop versus Proton-Transfer mechanisms" J. Mater. Chem. C 10, 10099 (2022).
  9. Higashino et al., "Small-molecule ambipolar transistors" Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 24, 9770 (2022).
  10. Sonoda, "Chain-Length-Dependent Photophysical Properties of a,w-Di(4-pyridyl)polyenes: Effects of Solvent Polarity, Hydrogen Bond Formation, Protonation, and N-Alkylation" J. Fluoresc. 32, 95 (2022).
  11. Horiuchi et al., "Large polarization and record-high performance of energy-storage induced by a phase change in organic molecular crystals" Chem. Sci., 12, 14198 (2021).
  12. Horiuchi et al., "Single-component organic molecular ferroelectrics based on disk- or wheel-like rotation" J. Mater. Chem. C, 9, 13739 (2021).
  13. Higashino et al., "Architecting Layered Crystalline Organic Semiconductors Based on Unsymmetric π-Extended Thienoacenes" Chem. Mater. 33, 7379 (2021).
  14. Tsutsumi et al., "Precise and rapid solvent-assisted geometric protein self-patterning with submicron spatial resolution for scalable fabrication of microelectronic biosensors" Biosens. Bioelectron. 177, 112968 (2021).
  15. Tsutsumi et al., "High-Throughput Nanoparticle Chemisorption Printing of Chemical Sensors with High-Wiring-Density Electrodes" Electron. Mater. 2, 72 (2021).
  16. S. Horiuchi et al., "Metaelectric multiphase transitions in a highly polarizable molecular crystal" Chem. Sci. 11, 6183 (2020).
  17. S. Horiuchi et al., "Hydrogen-Bonded Small-Molecular Crystals Yielding Strong Ferroelectric and Antiferroelectric Polarizations" J. Phys. Soc. Japan 89, 051009 (2020).
  18. T. Higashino et al., "Direct Preparation of Mixed Self-assembled Monolayers Based on Common-substructure-tailored Phosphonic Acids for Fine Control of Surface Wettability" Chem. Lett. 49, 1302 (2020).
  19. T. Higashino et al., "Architecting layered molecular packing in substituted benzobisbenzothiophene (BBBT) semiconductor crystals" CrystEngComm 22, 3618 (2020).
  20. Y. Sonoda et al., "Crystal Structures and Fluorescence Spectroscopic Properties of a Series of alpha,omega-Di(4-pyridyl)polyenes: Effect of Aggregation-Induced Emission" ChemPlusChem 85, 1968 (2020).
  21. H. Tachibana et al., "Hole transport dithiophene-benzene copolymer for electroluminescence devices" Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 59, SCCA01 (2020).
  22. S. Horiuchi et al., "Coexistence of normal and inverse deuterium isotope effects in a phase-transition sequence of organic ferroelectrics" RSC Adv. 9, 39662 (2019).
  23. S. Horiuchi et al., "Hydrogen-Bonded Architectures and Field-Induced Polarization Switching in Bridged Bis(benzimidazole) Crystals" Cryt. Growth Des. 19, 328 (2019).
  24. T. Higashino et al., "Bilayer-type Layered Herringbone Packing in 3-n-Octyl-9-phenyl-benzothieno[3,2-b]naphtho[2,3-b]thiophene" Chem. Lett. 48, 453 (2019).
  25. T. Higashino et al., "Di- and tetramethoxy benzothienobenzothiophenes: substitution position effects on the intermolecular interactions, crystal packing and transistor properties" New J. Chem. 43, 884 (2019).
  26. H. Tachibana et al., "Highly concentrated dispersion of methyl-terminated germanane by liquid exfoliation" Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 58, 105002 (2019).
  27. H. Tachibana et al., "Fabrication of graphite by pulsed light irradiation of network silicon bearing anthryl groups" Thin Solid Films 686, 137422 (2019).
  28. H. Tachibana et al., "Liquid exfoliation of ethyl-terminated layered germanane" Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 58, SIIB21 (2019).
  29. H. Tachibana et al., "Thin-film transistors of rhodamine end-capped oligothiophene" Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 58, SBBG09 (2019).