Contact resistance between pentacene and indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode with surface treatment

Contact resistance between indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode and pentacene was studied by transmission line method (TLM). Organic solvent cleaned, inorganic alkali cleaned, and self-assembled monolayer (with OTS: octadecyltrichlorosilane) modified ITO electrode structures were compared. Pentacene layer of 300 angstrom thickness was vacuum deposited on patterned ITO layer at 70 degrees C with a deposition rate of 0.3 angstrom/s. Alkali cleaned and SAM modified ITO gave a lower contact resistance of about 6.34 x 10(4) Omega cm(2) and 1.88 x 10(3) Omega cm(2), respectively than organic solvent cleaned ITO of about 6.58 x 10(5) Omega cm(2). Especially with the SAM treatment, the work function of ITO increased closer to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level of pentacene, which lowers the injection barrier between ITO and pentacene. It was also believed that pentacene morphology was improved on SAM modified ITO surface due to the lowering of the surface energy. We could obtain the low contact resistance with SAM treatment which is comparable to the measured value of gold-pentacene contact, 1.86 x 10(3) Omega cm(2). This specific contact resistance is still much higher than that of amorphous silicon thin film transistor (0.1-30 Omega cm(2)). (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.