Rubrene (5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene) Description

Rubrene (5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene) is a red colored polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Rubrene is used as a sensitiser in chemoluminescence and as a yellow light source in lightsticks. As an organic semiconductor, the major application of rubrene is in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic field-effect transistors, which are the core elements of flexible displays. Single-crystal transistors can be prepared using crystalline rubrene, which is grown in a modified zone furnace on a temperature gradient. This technique, known as physical vapor transport, was introduced in 1998. Rubrene holds the distinction of being the organic semiconductor with the highest carrier mobility, which reaches 40 cm2/(V·s) for holes. This value was measured in OFETs prepared by peeling a thin layer of single-crystalline rubrene and transferring to a Si/SiO2 substrate.