The editors of this book aim to provide a comprehensive survey of the present theory, synthetic methodology, materials characterization, and current applications of organic field-effect transistors. They divide the book into six sections, each part dealing with different aspects of organic transistors.

The book starts with a theoretical description of charge transport at the molecular level, focusing on transport mechanisms and electron-transfer theory. Four subsections follow, with contributions from leading groups who describe the current understanding of charge transport in single-crystal devices, oligomers, conjugated polymer devices, and charge injection issues in organic transistors.

Section 3 begins with a detailed description of synthetic methodologies for organic semiconductors and presents a survey of all the currently reported molecules and correlations between their structure and transistor performance. The design and requirements of dielectric gate insulators are also discussed.

The editors then provide an overview of the various characterization techniques that are used to probe interfacial ordering, microstructure, molecular packing, and orientation, crucial to device performance. There are three subsections that primarily discuss the use of grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD), near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), and scanning probe techniques.

Section 5 contains five parts that describe the various processing techniques and associated organic thin-film growth mechanisms for molecules deposited under vacuum and out of solution. Finally, the book ends with some current technological examples that use organic field-effect transistors in their applications.

Each of the contributing authors provides a thorough overview of his or her area of expertise and the sections include recent work (with good use of primary sources) with nice illustrations and diagrams. The editors do a great job in corralling the most renowned experts in the field to contribute to this comprehensive survey of organic electronics.

A section that is especially interesting is the one on single-crystal transistors by Vitaly Podzorov. The author builds on the fundamentals of charge transport and then goes into detail regarding fabrication, charge transport, and defects at the surface of single crystals.

If ever there was a truly comprehensive summary of all the current organic semiconductors employed for field-effect transistors, Section 3 by Bao and coworkers would definitely fit that call. This section provides up-to-date coverage of over 300 organic semiconductors and their use in field-effect transistors.

The book concludes with a much appreciated key word index.

This book is a useful addition to university libraries and may also be of interest to scientists who are working on organic semiconductor electronics in industry. It would even be a valuable ‘yellow pages’ for graduate students who are just entering the field. But, most of all, it would be very beneficial to those who are interested in learning more on the principles of organic field-effect transistors and advancing their knowledge of organic semiconductor electronics in general.

I highly recommend this book. If the editors’ goals were to compile subject matter targeting all areas of organic electronics, then they surely succeeded. My only criticism is that there is not enough coverage of ambipolar transistors and light-emitting transistors. Several of the authors briefly touch on these areas, but none provide a complete description. I can only speculate that this is because several significant papers were published around the time that the book was planned.