Flexible and stable organic field-effect transistors using low-temperature solution-processed polyimide gate dielectrics

Abstract Polyimide (PI) has been widely used as a gate dielectric due to its remarkable thermal stability, chemical resistance, and mechanical flexibility. However, the high processing temperature and high surface energy of PI gate dielectrics hinder the realization of flexible and reliable electronic applications with low-cost manufacturing. Here, a low-temperature solution-processed organic field-effect transistor (OFET) is successfully demonstrated using a fully imidized soluble PI gate dielectric. The low temperature processability of soluble PI gate dielectrics is confirmed by investigating the effect of annealing temperature on the dielectric properties and electrical characteristics. By blending 6,13-Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene with polystyrene, the reliability of OFET is considerably enhanced while maintaining high device performance. As a result, OFETs exhibit excellent flexibility and can be integrated with ultrathin parylene substrates without degrading device performance. This work presents the steps to develop flexible and reliable electronic applications with low-cost manufacturing.