Ambient pressure organic semiconductor thin film growth by ambient axisymmetric spray

Interest in using organic semiconductors in applications such as large area displays, photovoltaic devices, and radio frequency identification tags stems in part from their prospects for enabling significantly reduced manufacturing costs compared to traditional inorganic semiconductors. However many of the best performing prototype devices produced so far have involved expensive or time-consuming fabrication methods, such as the use of single crystals or thin films deposited under high vacuum conditions. This thesis examines a new approach for growing low molecular weight organic crystalline films at ambient conditions based on an organic vapor-liquid-solid growth (OVLS) mechanism using thermotropic nematic liquid crystal (LC) solvents