Performance enhancement of poly(3-hexylthiophene) organic field-effect transistor by inserting poly(methylmethacrylate) buffer layer

Electrode buffer layer has been extensively studied to improve the performance of organic field-effect transistor (OFET). Here, poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) was employed as an electrode buffer layer between poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) layer and gold electrodes in OFETs. These OFETs exhibited nearly five-fold enhancement of hole mobility. Through atomic force microscope and grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction analyses, the performance enhancement was attributed to the uniformity and hydrophobicity of PMMA surface, which led to a remarkable reduction of contact resistance at P3HT/electrode interface. This study provides a facile strategy for the performance enhancement of OFET and insights into the essentiality of buffer layers. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4798368]