Methane Exposure on the Aluminum Nitride Gate Dielectric in Pentacene-Based Organic Thin-Film Transistors

Abstract

The device performance of a pentacene-based organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) fabricated on an aluminum nitride (AlN) surface can be improved by exposing AlN to a methane (CH(4)) gas before device fabrication. The mobility of the OTFT was enhanced from 0.046 to 0.924 cm(2)/V s by exposing AlN to CH(4). Its threshold voltage was reduced from -4.5 to -1.9 V. After the CH(4) exposure, the reduced surface energy of AlN was correlated with the improvement of the OTFT performance. The reduction of surface energy was correlated with the replacement of O-C=O bonds by C-O bonds and hydrocarbon (CH(x)) on the AlN surface. (C) 2009 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3182823] All rights reserved.