High-performance polymer tfts printed on a plastic substrate

High-performance poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin-film transistors array was fabricated on a plastic substrate by employing micro-contact printing process. The microcontact printing process, which uses a silicon elastomer stamp, enables the patterning of polymer layers without any photolithography process. As the gate dielectric, spun polyimide, and low-temperature ion-beam deposited silicon dioxide layers were used, forming a dual-layer structure. It is found out that the polymide layer improves the surface roughness of the dielectric and accordingly brings about enhanced device performance. Additionally, by using O2 plasma treatment, both higher drain current and carrier mobility were obtained simultaneously. Changes in the surface states of the source-drain electrodes and the morphology of the dielectric are proposed to account for the observed improvements. Based on the experiments, we built a high-performance plastic-based P3HT transistors array including 0.02 cm2 V ·s in carrier mobility and on/off current ratio about 103 ~ 104.

[1]  H. Nakashima,et al.  Effect of preoxidation on deposition of thin gate-quality silicon oxide film at low temperature by using a sputter-type electron cyclotron resonance plasma , 1997 .

[2]  B. Batlogg,et al.  Ambipolar pentacene field-effect transistors and inverters. , 2000, Science.

[3]  R. S. Scott,et al.  High field emission related thin oxide wearout and breakdown , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium.

[4]  E. W. Meijer,et al.  Two-dimensional charge transport in self-organized, high-mobility conjugated polymers , 1999, Nature.

[5]  T. Ohmi,et al.  Highly reliable ultrathin silicon oxide film formation at low temperature by oxygen radical generated in high-density krypton plasma , 2001 .

[6]  Torahiko Ando,et al.  Macromolecular electronic device: Field-effect transistor with a polythiophene thin film , 1986 .

[7]  S. Park,et al.  Mechanics of Indium-Tin-Oxide Films on Polymer Substrates with Organic Buffer Layer , 2001 .

[8]  Richard H. Friend,et al.  Integrated, high-mobility polymer field-effect transistors driving polymer light-emitting diodes , 1999 .

[9]  Sang-Hoon Jung,et al.  Very Low Temperature E-gun Evaporated Gate Oxide of TFTs on Plastic Substrates , 2001 .

[10]  K. Y. Lim,et al.  A physically-based semi-empirical series resistance model for deep-submicron MOSFET I-V modeling , 2000 .

[11]  Jin Jang,et al.  Hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film transistor fabricated on plasma treated silicon nitride , 2000 .

[12]  D. Goodman,et al.  New approach to the preparation of ultrathin silicon dioxide films at low temperatures , 1992 .

[13]  Do Y. Yoon,et al.  Electrical conduction in polyimide films , 1986 .

[14]  Z. Feit,et al.  Electrical conduction in polyimide between 20 and 350° C , 1987 .

[15]  H. Sirringhaus,et al.  Electro-optical characterisation of field effect devices with regioregular poly-hexylthiophene active layers , 1999 .

[16]  Heike Riel,et al.  Kelvin probe investigations of metal work functions and correlation to device performance of organic light-emitting devices , 2000 .

[17]  Zhenan Bao,et al.  Soluble and processable regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) for thin film field‐effect transistor applications with high mobility , 1996 .

[18]  Sampath Purushothaman,et al.  High-performance bottom electrode organic thin-film transistors , 2001 .

[19]  Thomas N. Jackson,et al.  Pentacene organic thin-film transistors for circuit and display applications , 1999 .

[20]  E. Aydil,et al.  Low-temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of SiO 2 , 1994 .

[21]  John A. Rogers.  Rubber stamping for plastic electronics and fiber optics , 2001 .

[22]  K. Tong,et al.  Stability of nitrided silicon dioxide deposited by reactive sputtering , 1995 .

[23]  S. Holdcroft,et al.  A Phenomenological Model for Predicting Thermochromism of Regioregular and Nonregioregular Poly(3-alkylthiophenes) , 1996 .

[24]  R. S. Scott,et al.  High field related thin oxide wearout and breakdown , 1995 .

[25]  T. Hook.  Polyimide-related design considerations in a bipolar technology , 1990 .

[26]  Stephen D. Senturia,et al.  Sodium transport in polyimide-SiO2 systems , 1985 .