Effects of Au source/drain thickness on electrical characteristics of pentacene thin-film transistors

We investigate the electrical characteristics of top-contact pentacene thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated with various thicknesses of the Au source and the drain (S/D) electrodes, i.e., 20, 30, 50, 70, and 105 nm. Pentacene TFTs exhibit enhancements in the drain current and the fieldeffect mobility with increasing thickness of Au S/D electrodes up to 50 nm, after which the TFT performance degrades with increasing Au thickness. A transmission line method is used to analyze the contact resistance between the Au electrode and the pentacene layer in the TFTs, and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy measurements are performed to determine the work function of the Au films. The lowest contact resistance, 73 kΩ·cm, is obtained for the 50-nm-thick Au case and is ascribed to the high work function (4.67 eV) of the film. Consequently, the effects of the Au S/D thickness on the performance of top-contact pentacene TFTs can be understood through the behavior of the charge injection at the Au electrode/pentacene interface.