Hysteresis of pentacene thin-film transistors and inverters with cross-linked poly(4-vinylphenol) gate dielectrics

The authors report the effects of hydroxyl groups (OH bonds) on the electrical reliabilities of pentacene organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with poly-4-vinylphenol (PVP) gate dielectrics. PVP gate dielectric films mixed with different concentrations of methylated poly(melamine-co-formaldehyde) (MMF) were fabricated, and experiments on the hysteresis behavior of the OTFT device were conducted. Pentacene TFTs with the PVP (MMF 0wt.%) exhibited a large hysteresis, while in the PVP (MMF 125wt.%), nearly no hysteresis was observed. Large hysteresis observed in OTFT devices was confirmed to be strongly related to the hydroxyl groups existing inside of the polymeric dielectrics and could reduced by the decrease of OH group.