Inserting a Mn-doped TiO2 layer for improving performance of pentacene organic thin-film transistors

Device performance of pentacene organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) was significantly improved via inserting a Mn-doped TiO₂ layer between pentacene semiconductor and the source–drain electrodes. In comparison with the OTFTs with only-Au electrodes, the introduction of a thin Mn-doped TiO₂ layer leads to saturation current increasing from 31.9 μA to 0.22 mA, effective field-effect mobility improving from 0.24 to 1.13 cm²/V s, and threshold voltage downshifting from −11 to −2 V. These performance enhancements are ascribed to the significant reduction of contact resistance and smoothed surface of pentacene layer. This work may provide an effective approach to improve the performance of the pentacene based OTFTs by inserting a Mn-doped TiO₂ layer.