Title

Thermionic Emission And Tunneling At Carbon Nanotube-Organic Semiconductor Interface

Keywords

barrier height; carbon nanotube electrodes; charge injection; direct tunneling; Fowler-Nordheim tunneling; organic semiconductor; thermionic emission

Abstract

Figure Persented: We study the charge carrier injection mechanism across the carbon nanotube (CNT)-organic semiconductor interface using a densely aligned carbon nanotube array as electrode and pentacene as organic semiconductor. The current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics measured at different temperatures show a transition from a thermal emission mechanism at high temperature (above 200 K) to a tunneling mechanism at low temperature (below 200 K). A barrier height of ∼0.16 eV is calculated from the thermal emission regime, which is much lower compared to the metal/pentacene devices. At low temperatures, the J-V curves exhibit a direct tunneling mechanism at low bias, corresponding to a trapezoidal barrier, while at high bias the mechanism is well described by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, which corresponds to a triangular barrier. A transition from direct tunneling to Fowler-Nordheim tunneling further signifies a small injection barrier at the CNT/pentacene interface. Our results presented here are the first direct experimental evidence of low charge carrier injection barrier between CNT electrodes and an organic semiconductor and are a significant step forward in realizing the overall goal of using CNT electrodes in organic electronics. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Publication Date

6-26-2012

Publication Title

ACS Nano

Volume

6

Issue

6

Number of Pages

4993-4999

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1021/nn300544v

Socpus ID

84862888790 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84862888790

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