Interfacial Charge Transport Anisotropy of Organic Field-Effect Transistors Based on Pentacene Derivative Single Crystals with Cofacial Molecular Stack

Understanding charge transport anisotropy at the interface of conjugated nanostructures basically gives insight into structure-property relationship in organic field-effect transistors (OFET). Here, the anisotropy of the field-effect mobility at the interface between 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS- pentacene) single crystal with cofacial molecular stacks in a-b basal plane and SiO gate dielectric was investigated. A solvent exchange method has been used in order for TIPS-pentacene single crystals to be grown on the surface of SiO2 thin film, corresponding to the charge accumulation at the interface in OFET structure. In TIPS-pentacene OFET, the anisotropy ratio between the highest and lowest measured mobility is revealed to be 5.2. By analyzing the interaction of a conjugated unit in TIPS-pentacene with the nearest neighbor units, the mobility anisotropy can be rationalized by differences in HOMO-level coupling and hopping routes of charge carriers. The theoretical estimation of anisotropy based on HOMO-level coupling is also consistent with the experimental result.