Enhancement of the electrical characteristics of metal-free phthalocyanine films using cold isostatic pressing

Spatial gaps between grains and other grains, substrates, or electrodes in organic electronic devices are one of the causes of the reduction in the electrical characteristics. In this study, we demonstrate that cold isostatic pressing (CIP) is an effective method to crush the gaps and enhance the electrical characteristics. CIP of metal-free phthalocyanine (H₂PC) films induced a decrease in the film thickness by 34%-40% because of the gap crush. The connection of smaller grains into a larger grain and planarization of the film surface were also observed in the CIP film. The crystal axes of the H₂PC crystallites were rearranged from the a-axis to the c-axis of the α-phase crystal structure in a direction perpendicular to the substrate by CIP, indicating favorable hole injection and transport in this direction because of a better overlap of π orbitals. Thermally stimulated current measurements showed that deep hole traps disappeared and the total hole-trap density decreased after CIP. These CIP-induced changes of the film thicknesses, crystal axes and the hole traps lead to a marked increase in the hole mobility of the H₂PC films from 2.0 × 10-7 to 4.0 × 10-4 cm2/V s by 2000 times in the perpendicular direction. We believe that these findings are important for unveiling the underlying carrier injection and transport mechanisms of organic films and for enhancing the performance of future organic electronic devices.