Energy-efficient solution-processed organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are highly sought after in the low-cost printing industry as well as for the manufacture of flexible and other next-generation devices. The fabrication of such electronic devices requires high-functioning insulating materials that are chemically and mechanically robust to avoid lowering insulating properties during the device fabrication process or utilization of devices. In this study, we report a facile, fluorinated, UV-assisted cross-linker series using a fluorophenyl azide (FPA), which reacts with the C-H groups of a conventional polymer. This demonstrates the application of the cross-linked films in OFET gate dielectrics. The effects of the cross-linkable chemical structure of the FPA series on the cross-linking chemistry, photopatternability, and dielectric properties of the resulting films are investigated for low/high-k or amorphous/crystalline polymeric gate dielectric materials. The characteristics of insulating layers and behavior of OFETs containing these cross-linked gate dielectrics (for example, leakage current density (J), hysteresis, and charge trap density) depend on the polymer type. Furthermore, an organic-based complementary inverter and various printable OFETs with excellent electrical characteristics are successfully fabricated. Thus, these reported cross-linkers that enable the solution process and patterning of well-developed conventional polymer dielectric materials are promising for the realization of a more sustainable next-generation industrial technology for flexible and printable devices.
Keywords: cyclic olefin copolymer; gate dielectrics; organic field-effect transistors; photo-cross-linker; poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene).