Poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin-film transistors with variable polymer dielectrics for transfer-printed flexible electronics

The fabrication of high quality organic thin-film transistors onto flexible, plastic substrates has been extended to include the polymeric semiconductor material poly(3-hexlythiophene). The transfer printing method is used to easily assemble these devices onto either polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC) substrates. A PC dielectric layer is used in conjunction with the PC substrate while both poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene dielectric layers are used in conjunction with the PET substrate. In all cases the mobility of the transfer-printed devices, 0.019–0.041 cm2/V s, is significantly higher than that of the unprinted reference devices (SiO2 dielectric layer on a Si substrate), 0.007 cm2/V s. The width-normalized contact resistance is also lower for the transfer-printed devices, 0.18 MΩ cm, as compared to that for the reference devices, 0.56 MΩ cm. For the devices reported, the threshold voltage becomes more positive as the polar component of the surface energy of the polymer dielectric material increases. These results illustrate the simplicity, power, and versatility of the transfer printing method for the fabrication of high quality flexible electronics.