Pentacene disproportionation during sublimation for field-effect transistors

Luke B Roberson; Janusz Kowalik; Laren M Tolbert; Christian Kloc; Roswitha Zeis; Xiaoliu Chi; Richard Fleming; Charles Wilkins

doi:10.1021/ja044586r

Pentacene disproportionation during sublimation for field-effect transistors

J Am Chem Soc. 2005 Mar 9;127(9):3069-75. doi: 10.1021/ja044586r.

Authors

Luke B Roberson¹, Janusz Kowalik, Laren M Tolbert, Christian Kloc, Roswitha Zeis, Xiaoliu Chi, Richard Fleming, Charles Wilkins

Affiliation

¹ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.

PMID: 15740146
DOI: 10.1021/ja044586r

Abstract

At moderate temperatures in flowing gas, pentacene undergoes a disproportionation reaction to produce 6,13-dihydropentacene (DHP) and a series of polycondensed aromatic hydrocarbons, including the previously unknown peripentacene (PP). The process requires activation by heating to 320 degrees C and is possibly catalyzed by impurities such as DHP, 6,13-pentacenequinone (PQ), Al, or Fe found in the starting materials. These impurities also result in a decrease in the intrinsic field-effect mobility (FEM) of pentacene crystals. Subsequent purifications remove such impurities, thus inhibiting the formation of the disproportionation products and increasing the FEM of pentacene (2.2 cm(2)/Vs). These results clarify the importance of purification of semiconductive materials for measurements of intrinsic mobility and optimal device performance.