Optimization of nanocomposite gate insulators for organic thin film transistors

Nanocomposite gate insulators consisting of (Ba, Sr)TiO₃ (barium strontium titanate; BST) nanoparticles and crosslinked poly(4-vinyl phenol) (PVP) polymers were fabricated. Well-dispersed nanocomposite films were prepared by optimizing the BST nanoparticle size sorting process (ultrasound crushing and centrifuge method). The size-sorted BST nanoparticles (∼30 nm in size) were homogeneously mixed in the PVP host polymer in various BST contents, from 0 to 70 wt%, to tune the dielectric constant (κ) of the resulting nanocomposite films. The composite films exhibit three-fold increase in the κ value from 3.9 to 11.3. The physical properties including leakage current and surface roughness of the composites were also measured as a function of the BST loading content and particle dispersion. The relationship between these properties and the electrical performance of the corresponding organic thin film transistor were explored.