Organic insulator layer influence on the electrical properties of N, N’-di (2-ethylhexyl) - 3, 4, 9, 10-perylene diimide organic thin-film transistors: Experiment and modeling

Abstract

In this work, n- type organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) based on different kinds of organic dielectrics were fabricated, characterized and theoretically investigated. Three kinds of organic insulators were applied as dielectric gate which are: divinyl tetramethyl disiloxane-bis (benzo-cyclobutene) (BCB), poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) and poly (4-vinyl phenol) (PVP). Analytical model was applied to describe the electrical behavior of the fabricated OTFTs and to explain the absence of saturation of the drain current for the device based on PVA dielectric. In addition, Meyer–Neldel rule-grain boundary model was applied for the calculation of total resistance of OTFTs based on different dielectrics materials. The theoretical results of output characteristics and total resistance showed an excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. The experimental and theoretical calculations revealed that the n-channel OTFTs based on BCB as an insulator layer exhibited superior electrical characteristics in terms of threshold voltage, mobility and drain current compared with the devices based on PVA and PVP as a gate insulator layer. The device based on BCB organic insulator layer has the largest mobility of 4 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1, the smallest leakage current relative to the devices based on PVA and PVP. While, the device fabricated with PVP organic insulator gate has a large trap density on the PVP-EHPDI interface which causes a pronounced decrease in field effect mobility and consequently drain current.