1 of 7) 1700018 vious studies, these optimizations were usually achieved based on continuous and compact OSC thin-films, which actually limited the sensor sensitivity. The sensing response of an OFET-based sensor is usually due to the interactions of analytes with the charge carriers in OSCs conduction channel and the electrodes, such as doping or quenching induced charge carrier density variation, dipole-induced trapping and retarding of charges, and change in charge injection energy barriers. [24][25][26][27][28] These interactions lead to changes in the threshold voltage, charge mobility and output source-drain current. However, the conduction channel of an OFET is usually concentrated within a few molecular layers at the bottom of the semiconductor film, close to the dielectric/semiconductor interface, [29][30][31][32] so that the device structure of conventional OFET-based sensors with continuous and compact OSC thin-films often restricts their sensing performance. Analyte molecules have to diffuse through the organic semiconductor films before they can interact with charge carriers in the conduction channel, [33][34][35] which limits the sensor sensitivity and response speed. Although OFETs based on organic semiconductor nanowire structures have been developed, [36][37][38] the fabrication of those devices requires rather complicated techniques, and the device performances of nanowire OFETs can be quite different from batches to batches, which is not desirable for sensing applications.In this work, we have developed a general strategy with a simple and effective method to overcome this limitation. Our strategy involves incorporating ultrathin porous OSC films into OFET chemical sensors. The ultrathin micro-porous OSC films were fabricated by a versatile template method. The porous OSC structure provides additional and direct pathways for analytes to interact with charge carriers in conduction channel. As a demonstration of this strategy, OFET chemical sensors with ultrathin porous OSC films were tested upon exposure to diluted NH 3 vapors, and showed much higher sensitivity than the pristine OFET with the same OSC thickness. The porous OFET also exhibited higher sensitivity to NH 3 than any previously reported OFET sensors, [39][40][41][42][43][44][45] to the best of our knowledge, along with decent selectivity and stability. This strategy is general and simple, which can be applied to nearly all OFET chemical sensors.The thin-film structures of chemical sensors based on conventional organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) can limit the sensitivity of the devices toward chemical vapors, because charge carriers in OFETs are usually concentrated within a few molecular layers at the bottom of the organic semiconductor (OSC) film near the dielectric/semiconductor interface. Chemical vapor molecules have to diffuse through the OSC films before they can interact with charge carriers in the OFET conduction channel. It has been demonstrated that OFET ammonia sensors with porous OSC films can be fabricated by a si...

Flexible organic phototransistors are fabricated using polylactide (PLA), a polar bio­material, as the dielectric material. The charge trapping effect induced by the polar groups of the PLA layer leads to a photosensitivity close to ≈104. The excellent performance of this new device design is further demonstrated by incorporating the photo­transistors into a sensor array to successfully image a star pattern.

Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) exhibiting slow relaxation of magnetization of purely molecular origin are highly attractive owing to their potential applications in spintronic devices, high-density information storage, and quantum computing. In particular, lanthanide SMMs have been playing a major role in the advancement of this field because of the large intrinsic magnetic anisotropy of lanthanide metal ions. Herein, some recent breakthroughs that are changing the perspective of the field are highlighted, with special emphasis on synthetic strategies towards the design of high-performance SMMs.