Electrodeless measurement of charge carrier mobility in pentacene by microwave and optical spectroscopy techniques

Photoinduced transient conductivity of pentacene thin films prepared by thermal vapor deposition is investigated using time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements, giving intrinsic charge carrier mobility in highly ordered structures without any electrode attached. The real and imaginary conductivity values are analyzed and compared with those predicted by molecular orbital calculations. The effects of substrate surface treatment by hexamethyldisilazane are discussed on the basis of kinetic traces of conductivity and morphology. A mobility of > 0.7 cm(2)/V s was obtained from the TRMC measurements and analysis of transient absorption spectra. The measurement of field-effect-transistor mobility in single-crystal domains requires not only complicated fabrication techniques but also many assumptions on the carrier channels, density, injection, etc. The combination of TRMC and transient optical spectroscopy provides an approach for addressing this issue. The present technique is applicable to a wide variety of organic semiconducting materials. Moreover, it is the only technique revealing the intrinsic potentials of mobility in materials that is supported by complete experimental and quantitative procedures not based on any assumptions. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.