Bias-Dependent Generation and Quenching of Defects in Pentacene

We describe a defect in pentacene single crystals that is created by bias stress and persists at room temperature for an hour in the dark but only seconds with 420nm illumination. The defect gives rise to a hole trap at Ev + 0.38eV and causes metastable transport effects at room temperature. 

Creation and decay rates of the hole trap have a 0.67eV activation energy with a small (108 s-1) prefactor, suggesting that atomic motion plays a key role in the generation and quenching process.