Ambipolar organic field-effect transistor based on an organic heterostructure

Abstract

Ambipolar charge injection and transport are a prerequisite for a light-emitting organic fieldeffect transistor(OFET).Organic materials, however, typically show unipolar charge-carrier transport characteristics. Consequently, organic thin-filmfield-effect transistors based on a single material as active layer can typically either be operated as p- or as n-channel device. In this article we show that by using a heterostructure with pentacene as hole-transport and N,N′-Ditridecylperylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide ( PTCDI-C 13 H 27 ) as electron-transport material, ambipolar characteristics, i.e., simultaneous p- and n-channel formation, can be observed in a single device. An OFET structure is investigated in which electrons and holes are injected from Mg top and Au bottom contacts into the PTCDI-C 13 H 27 and pentacene layers, respectively. Our device exhibits electron and hole mobilities of 3×10 −3 and 1×10 −4 cm 2 / V s , respectively. This device architecture serves as a model structure for ambipolar field-effect transistors, which are a prerequisite for light-emitting field-effect transistors.