Abstract

Organicsemiconductors (OSCs) are promising materials for low-cost and large-areaelectronic devices because they can be processed from solution employingscalable and high-throughput meniscus-guided coating (MGC) techniques. Controlover morphology and crystallinity of OSC thin films during MGC are one of themajor challenges for achieving high-performance organic electronics towardreal-world applications. In this review, we introduce and describe a series ofrepresentative MGC techniques that are used in the deposition of small-moleculeOSC thin films, and the advantages and limitations of the different MGC methodsare discussed. Further, we highlight recently reported strategies applied tocontrol the morphology, molecular packing, and orientation of OSC thin films inthe context of MGC techniques, and their impacts on the electronic propertiesof the resulting organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are discussed. Inaddition, the underlying mechanisms of these strategies have been outlined,which gives us insight into how to tune the relevant parameters of MGCtechniques to achieve the desired performance of OFETs. Finally, this reviewprovides a comprehensive overview of the current challenges and opportunitiesin the field of OFETs, aiming to promote the future development of thesmall-molecule OSCs for large-area thin-film electronics.