Electronic structure of pentacene on hafnium studied by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy

The electronic structure of pentacene on hafnium, which is a low work function metal, was analyzed by using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The energy level alignment was studied by using the onset of the highest occupied molecular orbital level and the shift of the vacuum level of the pentacene layer, which was deposited on a clean hafnium surface in a stepwise manner. The measured onset of the highest occupied molecular orbital energy level was 1.52 eV from the Fermi level of hafnium. The vacuum level was shifted 0.28 eV toward higher binding energy with additional pentacene layers, which means an interfacial dipole exists at the interface between pentacene and hafnium. We confirm that a small electron injection barrier can be achieved by inserting a low work function metal in a pentacene thin-film transistor.