Electron transport in solution-grown TIPS-pentacene single crystals: Effects of gate dielectrics and polar impurities

Reconfirmation and further examination of these unusual device performances should deepen the understanding on the electron transport in organic semiconductors. 6,13-bis(triisopropyl-silylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene), a widely examined p-channel material as Au is used for source-drain electrodes, has recently been reported to exhibit electron transport when grown from non-polar solvent on divinyltetramethyldisiloxanebis (benzocyclobutene) (BCB) dielectric, spurring the study on this unusual electron transport. This paper describes FET characteristics of solution-grown TIPS-pentacene single crystals on five polymer gate dielectrics including polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(4-vinyl phenol) (PVP), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CFE)). In addition to the p-channel behavior, electron transport occurs in the crystals on PMMA, PS, thick PVA (40 nm) and a bilayer dielectric of PMMA on P(VDF-TrFE-CFE), while does not on PVP and thin PVA (2 nm). The two distinct FET characteristics are consistent with the previous reported trap effect of hydroxyl groups (in PVP and PVA) and reduced injection barrier by Na+ions (as impurity in PVA). The highest electron mobility of 0.48 cm2V−1s−1has been achieved in the crystals on PMMA. Furthermore, the electron transport is greatly attenuated after the crystals are exposed to the vapor of a variety of polar solvents and the attenuated electron transport partially recovers if the crystals are heated, indicating the adverse effect of polar impurities on electron transport. By reconfirming the n-channel behavior in the OFETs based on TIPS-pentacene, this work has implications for the design of n-channel and ambipolar OFETs.