Highly Efficient Microscopic Charge Transport within Crystalline Domains in a Furan‐Flanked Diketopyrrolopyrrole‐Based Conjugated Copolymer

Abstract

Abstract Elucidating the interrelation between the molecular structure and charge transport properties in conjugated polymer thin films is an essential issue in developing the design principle of high‐performance polymer materials for application in organic electronics. In particular, the backbone planarity is suggested to be a key element that governs the transport performance, especially in recently developed donor–acceptor (D–A)‐type copolymers exhibiting high mobility, whereas the direct evaluation of the intrinsic transport performance, usually realized only within the small crystalline domains, is difficult by using conventional macroscopic measurements. Here, it is demonstrated that a D–A type copolymer, PDPPF‐DTT, which consists of furan‐flanked diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) and dithienothiophene (DTT) units in the conjugated backbone, exhibits a highly efficient charge transport performance within the crystalline domains with a remarkably low activation energy of less than 8 meV, based on microscopic measurements using field‐induced electron spin resonance spectroscopy. This high transport performance is primarily caused by the high backbone planarity realized by introducing furan‐flanked DPP and fused dithienothiophene units, which is demonstrated from the density functional theory calculations. This result provides a microscopic indication of the effectiveness of the present molecular design to produce a planar backbone and realize highly efficient charge transport performance.