High-performance solution-processed organic transistors with electroless-plated electrodes

Abstract

Electroless-plated gold and platinum films are used as source and drain electrodes in high-performance solution-processed organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), representing a promising large-area, near-room-temperature and vacuum-free technique to form low-resistance metal-to-semiconductor interfaces in ambient atmosphere. Developing non-displacement conditions using a Pt-colloidal catalyst for soft electroless plating, the electrodes are deposited on crystallized thin films of 2,9-didecyl-dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (C10-DNTT) without significant damage to the semiconductor material. The top-contact OFETs show remarkable performance, with a mobility of 6.0cm2V−1s−1. The method represents a practical fabrication technique to mass-produce circuitry arrays of nearly best-performing OFETs for the printed electronics industry.