Evidence of pentacene bulk and thin film phase transformation into an orthorhombic phase by iodine diffusion

Hysteresis Reduction for Organic Thin Film Transistors with Multiple Stacked Functional Zirconia Polymeric Films

We show that transfer hysteresis for a pentacene thin film transistor (TFT) with a low-temperature solution-processed zirconia (ZrOx) gate insulator can be remarkably reduced by modifying the ZrOx surface with a thin layer of crosslinked poly(4-vinylphenol) (c-PVP). Pentacene TFTs with bare ZrOx and c-PVP stacked ZrOx gate insulators were fabricated, and their hysteresis behaviors compared. The different gate insulators exhibited no significant surface morphology or capacitance differences. The threshold voltage shift magnitude decreased by approximately 71% for the TFT with the c-PVP stacked ZrOx gate insulator compared with the bare ZrOx gate insulator, with 0.75 ± 0.05 and 0.22 ± 0.03 V threshold voltage shifts for the bare ZrOx and c-PVP stacked ZrOx gate insulators, respectively. The hysteresis reduction was attributed to effectively covering hysteresis-inducing charge trapping sites on ZrOx surfaces.

Surface Reconstructions in Organic Crystals: Simulations of the Effect of Temperature and Defectivity on Bulk and (001) Surfaces of 2,2':6',2″-Ternaphthalene

2,2':6',2″-Ternaphthalene (NNN) is a novel, blue-emitting material, suitable for preparation of organic light-emitting diodes. Its crystal structure has been solved recently, but its thermal behavior and surface properties have not yet been explored, partly due to the difficulty in obtaining high quality crystals. In the present study we use classical molecular dynamics to investigate the thermal behavior of bulk and (001) surfaces of NNN. Our bulk simulations indicate the occurrence of a phase transition at about 600 K. The transition is facilitated by the presence of a free (001) surface, since a reconstruction leading to a very similar structure occurs around 550 K in our surface models. This holds for both ideal and defective surface models, containing a small number of vacancies (one or two missing molecules in the outermost layer). In all cases, the process is triggered by thermal motion and involves the reorientation of the molecules with respect to the (001) plane. Both the bulk and surface phases share the monoclinic space group P21/a with a herringbone disposition of molecules. These findings and their implications for the use of NNN in organic electronics are discussed.