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The Nucleation, Surface Energetics and Stability of Pentacene Thin Films on Crystalline and Amorphous Octadecylsilane Surface

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Investigating the Nucleation, Growth, and Energy Levels of Organic Semiconductors for High Performance Plastic Electronics

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Abstract

As discussed in the previous chapters, the performance of organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) is strongly dependent on the microstructure of the semiconducting active layer [1–3]. For bottom gated OTFTs, the majority of the current flows within the first few monolayers at the dielectric/semiconductor interface; thus understanding and controlling the growth and nucleation of the semiconductor at this interface is crucial for device optimization [1–3]. The vast majority of the work on the thin film formation of pentacene, one of the highest mobility, and the most widely studied organic semiconductor, was investigated on silicon dioxide (SiO2) [4–9]. While SiO2 is a common (though less so than OTS treated SiO2) dielectric for evaluating organic semiconductors, for future commercial device applications including flexible low cost electronics, the dielectric will be an organic or polymeric material [1, 10–14]. Fundamental understanding and control of pentacene growth on organic surfaces is therefore crucial. As aforementioned, the most common organic surface used for OTFTs is a methyl terminated one wherein the SiO2 is treated with an alkylsilane monolayer like octadecylsilane (OTS) [15–18]. Treating the SiO2 with OTS reduces the surface energy, changes the chemical nature of the surface from polar to non-polar, and from inorganic to organic. OTS modification of SiO2 has also been shown to change organic semiconductor morphology and reduce interfacial hydroxyl groups which are known to be trap states. Most papers reported an increase in OTFT performance (mobility, and on/off) after treatment with OTS [1, 19, 20]. As was discussed in detail in Chap. 2, the molecular order and density of the underlying OTS monolayer was determined to be a critical factor that affects device performance of pentacene OTFTs [18, 21]. Despite the fact OTS treated SiO2 is the most common dielectric surface, there have been few quantitative studies on organic semiconductor growth on OTS modified SiO2.

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  1. c3Nano Inc., Villa Street 368, Mountain View, CA, 94041, USA

    Ajay Virkar

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  1. Ajay Virkar
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Correspondence to Ajay Virkar .

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Virkar, A. (2012). The Nucleation, Surface Energetics and Stability of Pentacene Thin Films on Crystalline and Amorphous Octadecylsilane Surface. In: Investigating the Nucleation, Growth, and Energy Levels of Organic Semiconductors for High Performance Plastic Electronics. Springer Theses. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9704-3_3

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