NOVELTY - A thin-film transistor device (A1) comprises a gate dielectric layer (20), a gate electrode (60), a source electrode (40), a thin organic semiconductor film (30), and a drain electrode (50), where the thin organic semiconductor film is continuous and polycrystalline and comprises an arylene diimide compound that is a product from thermal dehydration imidization conversion of an amic acid or its amic ester precursor.    USE - As thin-film transistor device used in electronic device e.g. integrated circuits, active-matrix display, solar cells (claimed), complex circuits e.g. shift registers, logic circuits, smart cards, memory devices, radio-frequency identification tags, liquid crystal or organic light emitting devices, ring oscillators, and complementary circuits e.g. inverter circuits.    ADVANTAGE - The device has an on/off ratio of a source/drain current of at least 104. The arylene diimides obtained by solid state thermal conversion of amic acids and amic esters can be readily used to fabricate organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) devices. The thin films can be readily and conveniently prepared by applying a suitable solution of the amic acid or amic ester precursor onto a substrate. The low temperature processing combined with readily available materials and ease of deposition of thin films over large areas due to solubility of the amic acids and amic esters provide an inexpensive approach to the fabrication of thin film transistor devices. Furthermore, materials and processes used in the method afford easy solution processability to arylene diimide based n-type semiconducting materials, without significant structural modification, which themselves cannot be very organic solvent soluble. The arylene diimide need not be coated onto the substrate but is generated in situ from a solvent-soluble, easily coated precursor compound. The organic semiconductor layer generated by solid state conversion of thin films of soluble amic acid or amic ester precursors to the arylene diimide compounds, when used in the form of an n-channel layer, can exhibit high performance under inert conditions as well as in air without the need for special chemical underlayers. The n-channel organic semiconductor layer (or thin film) exhibits a field effect electron mobility of greater than 0.001 cm2/V.sec. The arylene diimide layer is not only continuous but also exhibits polycrystalline morphology with minimum inter-grain defects so that current flows through the material without unacceptable interruption. The amic acids and precursors can be easily prepared in environmentally friendly solvents like methanol, ethanol and/or water. Since the precursors are soluble in a number of organic solvents, they can be deposited on the surface of a given substrate from an organic solvent solution without any additional surface preparation (e.g. surface energy matching). The amic acid or amic ester precursors can be easily prepared in a single step reaction scheme.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - A thin-film transistor device comprises a gate dielectric layer (20), a gate electrode (60), a source electrode (40), a thin organic semiconductor film (30), and a drain electrode (50), where the dielectric layer, the gate electrode, the thin film of organic semiconductor material, source electrode, and the drain electrode are in any sequence as long as the gate electrode and thin organic semiconductor film both contact the dielectric layer, and the source electrode and the drain electrode both contact the thin film of the organic semiconducting composition, and the thin organic semiconductor film is continuous and polycrystalline and comprises an arylene diimide compound that is a product from thermal dehydration imidization conversion of an amic acid or its amic ester precursor. INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following:    (1) an electronic device (A2) selected from integrated circuits, active-matrix display, and solar cells comprising a multiplicity of the thin-film transistor devices (A1);    (2) preparing (M1) the thin film transistor device (A1) involving a) depositing a gate insulator layer on an electrically conducting substrate, and b) depositing a layer of an arylene diimide precursor that is an amic acid or amic ester on the gate insulator layer;    (3) preparing (M2) a thin film of an arylene diimide compound involving a1) adding a dianhydride to an organic solvent and stirring the resulting mixture to obtain a solution or dispersion, b1) adding an amine to the dianhydride solution or dispersion and mixing the reactants to obtain an arylene diimide precursor that is an amic acid or amic ester precursor, c1) applying the dianhydride solution to a substrate to form a coating, d1) removing the organic solvent from the coating to form a layer of the amic acid or amic ester precursor, and e1) thermally converting the arylene diimide precursor to an arylene diimide compound to form an organic semiconductor layer; and    (4) fabricating a thin-film semiconductor device involving either method M3: a2) applying onto a substrate an organic solvent solution of an arylene diimide precursor that is an amic acid or amic ester precursor to form a coating, b2) evaporating the solvent to produce a thin film of the arylene diimide precursor, c2) heating the thin film of the arylene diimide precursor for a period of time to convert the arylene diimide precursor to form an organic semiconductor thin film consisting of a corresponding arylene diimide compound, d2) forming a spaced apart electrically conductive source electrode and drain electrode, where the electrically conductive source electrode and the drain electrode are separated by, and electrically connected with, the organic semiconductor thin film, and e2) forming a gate electrode spaced apart from the organic semiconductor thin film, or method M4: providing a substrate, providing a gate electrode material over the substrate, providing a gate dielectric over the gate electrode material, depositing an organic solvent solution or dispersion of an arylene diimide precursor over the gate dielectric, evaporating the organic solvent to produce a thin film of the arylene diimide precursor, heating the thin film of the arylene diimide precursor at a temperature and for a period of time to convert the arylene diimide precursor to the corresponding arylene diimide compound to provide an organic semiconductor thin film, and providing an electrically conductive source electrode and a drain electrode contiguous to the organic semiconductor thin film.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figures show four cross-sectional views of the organic field transistor devices.    Gate dielectric (20)    Organic semiconductor layer (30)    Source electrode (40)    Drain electrode (50)    Gate electrode (60)