Transistor application of alkyl-substituted picene

Area of Science:

• Organic electronics
• Materials science
• Semiconductor device physics

Background:

• Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are crucial for flexible electronics.
• Developing high-mobility organic semiconductors is essential for advancing OFET performance.
• Picene derivatives offer promising semiconducting properties for electronic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and characterize field-effect transistors (FETs) using a novel 3,10-ditetradecylpicene (picene-(C14H29)2) thin film.
• To evaluate the performance of these FETs with various gate dielectrics.
• To demonstrate the potential of picene-(C14H29)2 for high-performance organic electronics.

Main Methods:

• Thin films of picene-(C14H29)2 were prepared using thermal deposition and solution processing.
• Fabrication of FET devices with different gate dielectrics including PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT), SiO2, Ta2O5, ZrO2, and HfO2.
• Electrical characterization of the fabricated FETs to determine field-effect mobility (μ) and threshold voltage (|Vth|).

Main Results:

• All fabricated FETs exhibited p-channel normally-off characteristics.
• A record field-effect mobility (μ) of ~21 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ was achieved with a PZT gate dielectric, with an average of 14(4) cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ across twelve devices.
• High average μ values (>5 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹) were observed with other dielectrics (SiO2, Ta2O5, ZrO2, HfO2).
• The lowest absolute threshold voltage (|Vth|) of 5.2 V was recorded with PZT, averaging 7(1) V.
• Solution-processed FETs with SiO2 yielded μ=3.4×10⁻² cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹.

Conclusions:

• Picene-(C14H29)2 is a highly effective organic semiconductor for high-performance FETs.
• The choice of gate dielectric significantly impacts device performance, with PZT yielding optimal results.
• Both thermal and solution processing methods are viable for fabricating picene-(C14H29)2 based devices, highlighting their versatility for electronics applications.