Inkjet printable and low annealing temperature gate-dielectric based on polymethylsilsesquioxane for flexible n-channel OFETs

Abstract

We report on inkjet printable gate-dielectric based on a spin-on-glass (SOG) material for applications in n-type organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The SOG material is polymethylsilsesquioxane in alcohol mixture. After annealed at 135 °C in air, the SOG films are well crosslinked and have a good resistance against alcohol, which allows for the inkjet printing of Ag gate electrodes on top of the SOG dielectric. The crosslinked SOG films are very dense, and can withstand high electric field. This is very beneficial to the operation of transistors. In addition, the SOG films have very low hydroxyl content after annealing. This property is very important for n-type transistors. After ink formulation, this SOG dielectric has an excellent inkjet-ability with good uniformity and reproducibility. By using Polyera's P(NDI2OD-T2) as the semiconductor and SOG as the dielectric, bottom-contact top-gated n-type transistors were successfully fabricated on PET substrates with electron mobility above 0.1 cm2/V and high on/off ratio well above 105. These remarkable results demonstrate that this newly formulated SOG dielectric is a promising candidate for the future development of flexible electronic devices.