The electronic coupling between OSC and metallic electrodes is of key importance for the efficiency of charge carrier injection in organic electronic devices, such as OFETs or photovoltaic cells, as it determines their idle power. Surface science-based model studies have mainly focused on the energy level alignment at such metal-organic interfaces without measuring real contact resistances, while device studies are typically performed without any microscopic structural and electronic interface characterization. In the present work, the authors introduced a high vacuum-based manufacturing of bottom contact OFETs that enables cleaning and controlled modification of metal contacts before the organic film deposition. This approach not only excludes any exposure to air, it also allows to examine the influence of controlled exposure to air on the device characteristics.

Using the example of the prototypical OSC pentacene it is demonstrated that FET structures with thoroughly cleaned gold electrodes reveal a remarkably low contact resistance. This can be further improved if the electrodes are O₂ plasma treated before the pentacene film growth, which results in a thin gold oxide layer and yields one of the lowest contact resistances ever reported for this system. It is shown that this not only causes an improved energy level alignment at the metal-organic interface but also suppresses a pronounced dewetting. In addition, it was demonstrated that controlled exposure to air – even for a short time – significantly affects the device performance.

The present study is an important milestone as it enables detailed electronic transport measurements through metal-OSC interfaces with poly- and single crystal organic semiconductors. This work paves the way for a knowledge transfer about the properties of idealized model interfaces to real electronic devices applications.