Scientists claim to have developed the world's fastest thin-film organic transistor that could operate more than five times faster than previous examples of this technology.

Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Stanford University said that this experimental technology has the potential to achieve the performance needed for high-resolution television screens and similar electronic devices.

Engineers created the thin-film organic transistors that could operate more than five times faster than previous examples of this experimental technology.

Research teams led by Zhenan Bao and Jinsong Huang used their new process to make organic thin-film transistors with electronic characteristics comparable to those found in expensive, curved-screen television displays based on a form of silicon technology.

They achieved their speed boost by altering the basic process for making thin-film organic transistors.

Typically, researchers drop a special solution, containing carbon-rich molecules and a complementary plastic, onto a spinning platter - in this case, one made of glass. The spinning action deposits a thin coating of the materials over the platter.

The collaborators described two important changes to this basic process.

First they spun the platter faster. Second they only coated a tiny portion of the spinning surface, equivalent to the size of a postage stamp.

These innovations had the effect of depositing a denser concentration of the organic molecules into a more regular alignment.

The result was a great improvement in carrier mobility, which measures how quickly electrical charges travel through the transistor.

The researchers called this improved method "off-centre spin coating." The process remains experimental, and the engineers cannot yet precisely control the alignment of organic materials in their transistors or achieve uniform carrier mobility.

Even at this stage, off-centre spin coating produced transistors with a range of speeds much faster than those of previous organic semiconductors and comparable to the performance of the polysilicon materials used in today's high-end electronics.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.