Improved charge injection of pentacene transistors by immobilizing DNA on gold source-drain electrodes

We successfully optimized the charge injection of pentacene-based organic thin-film transistors with bottom contact by immobilizing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) on gold electrodes. The single-stranded DNA having mercapto group (-SH) was used as the modified layer by molecular self-assembly onto the surface of gold electrodes. The threshold voltage is −10 V, and the field-effect mobility reaches 0.34 cm2/V s, which is comparable with that of typical top-contact devices. Mechanism of performance improvement is due to the high carrier density in contact region attracted by the phosphate group on the DNA backbone increasing the tunneling probability for improved charge injection. Furthermore, the introduction of modified layer significantly enhanced the grain size of pentacene that is beneficial for charge transport, which also is responsible for the improved device performances.