Proton migration mechanism for the instability of organic field-effect transistors

Sharma, Akanksha; Mathijssen, Sgj Simon; Kemerink, Martijn; Leeuw, DM Dago de; Bobbert, PA Peter

doi:10.1063/1.3275807

Cited by 55 publications

(60 citation statements)

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“…11 Recently, we proposed a mechanism for the bias-stress effect in p-type field-effect transistors with SiO 2 gate dielectric that is based on production of protons from holes and water in the accumulation layer of the semiconductor and the subsequent migration of these protons into the gate dielectric. 14 We showed that this mechanism can quantitatively explain the measured dependence of the thresholdvoltage shift on time and that this dependence can indeed be accurately fitted with a stretched-exponential function. We concluded that to a good approximation the drift contribution to the motion of the protons can be neglected so that this motion is governed by diffusion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In this approximation, the time scale of the bias-stress effect is determined by a characteristic time that depends only on the diffusion coefficient and the ratio between the proton density in the oxide at the interface with the semiconductor and the hole density in the accumulation layer of the semiconductor. 14 A unique aspect of this mechanism is that not only the amount of protons stored in the dielectric is important but also their specific density profile. As a consequence, unlike other mechanisms, this mechanism predicts the occurrence of memory effects related to the biasing history of the transistor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] SiO 2 is chosen to prevent effects of ionic movements, which are known to occur in organic gate dielectrics. 15 Nevertheless, transistors with SiO 2 as gate dielectric suffer from the bias-stress effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Proton migration mechanism for operational instabilities in organic field-effect transistors

et al. 2010

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. (2010). Proton migration mechanism for operational instabilities in organic field-effect transistors. Physical Review B, 82(7), 075322-1/11. [075322]. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.82.075322 DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.82.075322 Document status and date:Published: 01/01/2010 Document Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers) Please check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement: Organic field-effect transistors exhibit operational instabilities involving a shift of the threshold gate voltage when a gate bias is applied. For a constant gate bias the threshold voltage shifts toward the applied gate bias voltage, an effect known as the bias-stress effect. Here, we report on a detailed experimental and theoretical study of operational instabilities in p-type transistors with silicon-dioxide gate dielectric both for a constant as well as for a dynamic gate bias. We associate the instabilities with a reversible reaction in the organic semiconductor in which holes are converted into protons in the presence of water and a reversible migration of these protons into the gate dielectric. We show how redistribution of charge between holes in the semiconductor and protons in the gate dielectric can consistently explain the experimental observations. Furthermore, we show how a shorter period of application of a gate bias leads to a faster backward shift of the threshold voltage when the gate bias is removed. The proposed mechanism is consistent with the observed acceleration of the bias-stress effect with increasing humidity, increasing temperature, and increasing energy of the highest molecular orbital of the org...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Proton migration mechanism for operational instabilities in organic field-effect transistors

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“…The bias stress has been ascribed mainly to migration and reversible trapping of cations, specifically protons, at the dielectric/semiconductor interface. 27 In the vacuum, bias stress still exists, suggesting the existence of an intrinsic component to this phenomenon. Although the transversal field may not be strong, being at its maximum on the order of 10 5 volt/cm, yet it may couple to the charge carriers through polarization, leading to local structural changes and energy lowering of the charged state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes of the Molecular Structure in Organic Thin Film Transistors during Operation

et al. 2015

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Thin films of organic semiconductors have been widely studied at different length scales for improving the electrical response of devices based on them. Hitherto, a lot of knowledge has been gained about how molecular packing, morphology, grain boundaries, and defects affect the charge transport in organic thin film transistors. However, little is known about the impact of an electric field on the organic semiconductor microstructure and the consequent effect on the device performances. To fill this gap, we investigated the evolution of the structure of pentacene thin film transistors during device operation by in situ real time X-ray diffraction measurements and theoretical calculations. We observed for the first time the occurrence of a reversible structural strain taking place during the bias application mainly due to reorientation at the terrace edges of monolayer islands under the effect of electrical field. Strain exhibits the same trend of the threshold voltage hinting to the existence of a direct correlation between the phenomenon of bias stress and the structural modification.2

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“…The threshold- voltage shift could be quantitatively described by assuming the production of protons (H þ ) from holes and water and the subsequent migration of these protons into the gate dielectric. 11 We note that even under vacuum conditions, water is expected to be present in the form of a monolayer adsorbed onto the SiO 2 surface.…”

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Influence of the semiconductor oxidation potential on the operational stability of organic field-effect transistors

Sharma

Mathijssen

Bobbert

et al. 2011

Applied Physics Letters

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During prolonged application of a gate bias, organic field-effect transistors show a gradual shift of the threshold voltage towards the applied gate bias voltage. The shift follows a stretched-exponential time dependence governed by a relaxation time. Here, we show that a thermodynamic analysis reproduces the observed exponential dependence of the relaxation time on the oxidation potential of the semiconductor. The good fit with the experimental data validates the underlying assumptions. It demonstrates that this operational instability is a straightforward thermodynamically driven process that can only be eliminated by eliminating water from the transistor.

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Proton migration mechanism for the instability of organic field-effect transistors

Cited by 55 publications

References 20 publications

Proton migration mechanism for operational instabilities in organic field-effect transistors

Proton migration mechanism for operational instabilities in organic field-effect transistors

Changes of the Molecular Structure in Organic Thin Film Transistors during Operation

Influence of the semiconductor oxidation potential on the operational stability of organic field-effect transistors

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