Enhanced Performance of Organic Thin Film Transistor Devices Using Hydroxyethyl-Terminated P3HT as the Active Layer

Hydroxyethyl-terminated poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT-OH) have been synthesized via a catalyst-transfer polycondensation using Grignard metathesis mediated by a nickel-based catalyst. This hydrophilic P3HT-OH is compared against the hydrophobic P3HT when used as an active layer on silicon dioxide (SiO2) wafer for organic thin-film-transistor (OTFT) fabrication. Hydroxyl groups at a 7.5% weight content lead to more chain regularity when polymer is bonded to SiO2 wafer surface and thus enhance the performance of OTFT Device, such as an 114.2% increase in ON/OFF ratio, an 12.4% increase in mobility, a 23.3% decrease in threshold voltage and a 30.1% decrease in surface roughness. Analysis and measurements reported in this paper have illustrated for the first time the feasibility of imparting hydrophilicity to the active layer for improving the OTFT performance.