High performance pentacene organic field-effect transistors consisting of biocompatible PMMA/silk fibroin bilayer dielectric

Pentacene organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on single-or double-layer biocompatible dielectrics of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and/or silk fibroin (SF) are fabricated. Compared with those devices based on single PMMA or SF dielectric or SF/PMMA bilayer dielectric, the OFETs with biocompatible PMMA/SF bilayer dielectric exhibit optimal performance with a high field-effect mobility of 0.21 cm²/Vs and a current on/off ratio of 1.5×10⁴. By investigating the surface morphology of the pentacene active layer through atom force microscopy and analyzing the electrical properties, the performance enhancement is mainly attributed to the crystallization improvement of the pentacene and the smaller interface trap density at the dielectric/organic interface. Meanwhile, a low contact resistance also indicates that a good electrode/organic contact is formed, thereby assisting the performance improvement of the OFET.