Study on copper phthalocyanine and perylene-based ambipolar organic light-emitting field-effect transistors produced using neutral beam deposition method

The neutral cluster beam deposition (NCBD) method has been applied to the production and characterization of ambipolar, heterojunction-based organic light-emitting field-effect transistors (OLEFETs) with a top-contact, multi-digitated, long-channel geometry. Organic thin films of n-type N, N'-ditridecylperylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide and p-type copper phthalocyanine were successively deposited on the hydroxyl-free polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA)-coated SiO2 dielectrics using the NCBD method. Characterization of the morphological and structural properties of the organic active layers was performed using atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Various device parameters such as hole- and electron-carrier mobilities, threshold voltages, and electroluminescence (EL) were derived from the fits of the observed current-voltage and current-voltage-light emission characteristics of OLEFETs. The OLEFETs demonstrated good field-effect characteristics, well-balanced ambipolarity, and substantial EL under ambient conditions. The device performance, which is strongly correlated with the surface morphology and the structural properties of the organic active layers, is discussed along with the operating conduction mechanism. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.