Using a single electrospun polymer nanofiber to enhance carrier mobility in organic field-effect transistors toward nonvolatile memory

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2014 Apr 23;6(8):5506-15. doi: 10.1021/am405671b. Epub 2014 Apr 9.

Abstract

In this work, a single electrospun polymer nanofiber was employed as an additional dielectric in organic field-effect transistors where the active channel was a layer of pentacene. A high field-effect mobility (>1.50 cm(2)/(V·s)) and a high ON/OFF current ratio (>10(6)) could be achieved by the use of such a nanofiber. Probing by electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scattering techniques, we found that the geometry of the fiber is key to induce a pentacene morphology with large and oriented grains that facilitates the charge transport in pentacene layer along the fiber. The feasibility of nonvolatile memory based on this new type of transistor has been explored and the devices showed a fairly high memory window and reliable memory characteristics. In addition to pure polymers, the effects of composite nanofibers with dispersed [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester were also investigated, and the electrical properties and memory characteristics of the transistors were found to be further improved. This study highlights the importance of dielectric geometry to pentacene morphology that is decisive for the performances of organic field-effect transistors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't