Air stable, high performance pentacene thin-film transistor fabricated on SiO2 gate insulator treated with β-phenethyltrichlorosilane

A pentacene thin-film transistor (TFT) was fabricated on a SiO2 gate insulator treated with β-phenethyltrichlorosilane (β-PTS). Employing β-PTS for the surface treatment of SiO2, large grains were present in the initial stage of pentacene crystal growth. The field effect mobility was as high as 1.5cm2∕Vs and the on/off ratio was over 106. The surface treatment dramatically improved the stability in air of the pentacene-TFT’s electrical characteristics. A field effect mobility of over 1cm2∕Vs and on/off ratio of over 105 were maintained after scanning the gate voltage 2000 times in air. This result indicates that the surface treatment with β-PTS not only improved TFT performance but also significantly suppressed the device’s degradation.