Hysteresis-free vacuum-processed acrylate-pentacene thin-film transistors

Journal article

The electrical characteristics of all-vacuum-processed pentacene thin-film transistors, with stable and reproducible performance, using high-throughput roll-to-roll processing have been demonstrated. The method allows a polymerized tripropyleneglycol diacrylate (TPGDA) insulator layer of thickness up to 1 μm to be obtained in a single pass by ultrahigh flash evaporation of a monomer onto a web travelling at 10 m min-1 and subsequent irradiation with an argon plasma emitted from a dc-sputtering cathode. The resulting organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) exhibited field-effect mobility of 0.12 cm 2, V-1 s-1, a threshold voltage of-21 V, a turn-on voltage of-2 V, and an on/off current ratio of 1×105. The effect of ambient air moisture on the device characteristics was investigated, showing that moisture has a reversible effect on the performance of the OTFTs exhibiting a shift in the turn-on voltage and deterioration in the on-off ratio. However, the effect was eliminated using a simple conventional encapsulation method. Our vacuum-based process thus demonstrates excellent potential for providing an alternative route to low-cost large-area organic electronics manufacturing. © 1980-2012 IEEE.

Authors: Abbas, G; Ding, Z; Mallik, K; Assender, H; Taylor, D

• Journal: IEEE Electron Device Letters
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 268-270
• Publication date: 2013-01-01
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2012.2234434
• ISSN: 0741-3106
• Language: English
• Keywords: plasma applications; vacuum technology; Insulators; thin-film transistors