Pentacene was in situ deposited on both bare-Au and plasma-treated Au . The band structure at the interface of Au with pentacene was quantitatively determined using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The work function of Au increased from 4.65 to as the Au surface was treated with plasma. The corresponding interface dipoles were for bare Au and for , respectively. Thus the hole injection barrier at the interface reduced from 0.45 to by the plasma before the deposition of pentacene, leading to an increase of the linear field-effect mobility of thin-film transistors.