Dynamics of carrier injection in picene thin-film field-effect transistors with an ionic liquid sheet and ionic liquid gel

We fabricated picene thin-film field-effect transistors (FETs) with an ionic liquid gel and ionic liquid sheet as the gate electrolyte, and then used electron spin resonance (ESR) to investigate the carrier injection process in the organic electric double layer (EDL) FET. The ESR spectra strongly depended on the morphology of gate electrolytes. Three types of carrier injection processes in the EDL-FET were observed by examining the applied-bias time, organic-layer thickness, and gate-voltage dependencies of the electric-field-induced ESR spectrum: (1) interface injection due to electrostatic EDL formation, (2) bulk injection due to penetration of ions (electrochemical bulk doping), and (3) electrochemical reaction. These findings are significant for designing novel materials using the EDL-FET technique because three different carrier injection processes may lead to different physical properties, even in the same organic material.