Traps play crucial roles in the charge transport of disordered organic semiconductors and can significantly influence the electrical performance of organic functional devices. The constrain effect of charge traps in organic field-effect transistors with a ferroelectric polymer as a dielectric interfacial layer has been studied at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to temperature beyond the Curie point of the ferroelectric polymers by utilizing a thermally stable polymer as the semiconducting channel. It has been observed that the charge traps are constrained within a shallow energy level with the ferroelectric interfacial layer. The change in the density of traps involved in the trap-filling process at temperatures across the Curie point shows that the decrease in shallow traps is almost proportional to the increase in deep traps, indicating the transition between shallow and deep traps in the semiconducting channel. These findings suggest potential in stability increase and performance enhancement of future organic functional devices via modulation of traps by a ferroelectric interfacial layer.
Keywords: charge traps; domain wall; ferroelectric polymer; hysteresis; organic field-effect transistors.