| Literature DB >> 30828529 |
Andrea Perinot1, Mario Caironi1.
Abstract
Organic printed electronics are suitable for the development of wearable, lightweight, distributed applications in combination with cost-effective production processes. Nonetheless, some necessary features for several envisioned disruptive mass-produced products are still lacking: among these radio-frequency (RF) communication capability, which requires high operational speed combined with low supply voltage in electronic devices processed on cheap plastic foils. Here, it is demonstrated that high-frequency, low-voltage, polymer field-effect transistors can be fabricated on plastic with the sole use of a combination of scalable printing and digital laser-based techniques. These devices reach an operational frequency in excess of 1 MHz at the challengingly low bias voltage of 2 V, and exceed 14 MHz operation at 7 V. In addition, when integrated into a rectifying circuit, they can provide a DC voltage at an input frequency of 13.56 MHz, opening the way for the implementation of RF devices and tags with cost-effective production processes.Entities:
Keywords: flexible organic transistors; laser sintering; printed electronics; radio frequency; rectifiers
Year: 2018 PMID: 30828529 PMCID: PMC6382309 DOI: 10.1002/advs.201801566
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Adv Sci (Weinh) ISSN: 2198-3844 Impact factor: 16.806
Figure 1a) Laser sintering processing steps for the fabrication of conductive electrodes on plastic; b) optical micrograph of a single device comprising active area and contact pads (magnification: layout of the source and drain electrodes); c) picture of the final realized devices on plastic PEN substrate.
Figure 2a) Process flow for the fabrication of polymer FETs on plastic with solution‐based techniques; b) 3D view of the final device stack; c) transfer curve and d) output curve for a realized FET with L = 1 µm; e) drain current at V g = 5 V for the FETs and for the realized channel lengths; and f) calculated apparent charge mobility for the device with L = 1 µm.
Measured effective charge mobility and corresponding reliability factor for the realized FETs for the different channel lengths
| Channel length [µm] | Apparent mobility at | Reliability factor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.30 | 107 |
| 1.5 | 0.29 | 109 |
| 5.5 | 0.16 | 128 |
| 17.5 | 0.14 | 134 |
Figure 3a) Measured and calculated data for the gate–source and gate–drain capacitances of an FET with L = 1 µm versus gate–source bias voltage; b) measured transconductance of the same device versus V gs (the linear fit is a guide to the eye); c) combined measurement of the transconductance and gate capacitance of the same FET for f t extraction (top panel: 7 V bias, bottom panel: 2 V bias); d) extracted transition frequency for the same FET versus gate–source bias voltage.
Achieved voltage‐normalized transition frequency f t/V bias for relevant works on organic, high‐frequency FETs on flexible substrate
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| Fabrication techniques | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14.4 | 7 | 2.06 | Laser sintering, bar‐coating, spin‐coating, inkjet | This work |
| 1.6 | 2 | 0.80 | Laser sintering, bar‐coating, spin‐coating, inkjet | This work |
| 1.6 | 8 | 0.20 | Inkjet, spin‐coating |
|
| 4.9 | 30 | 0.16 | Laser ablation, spin‐coating, inkjet |
|
| 1.92 | 15 | 0.13 | Gravure, inkjet |
|
| 3.3 | 30 | 0.11 | NIL |
|
NIL: Nanoimprint lithography.
Figure 4a) Input and output voltage waveforms for a rectifier based on a realized FET with L = 1 µm at an input voltage frequency of 100 kHz (top panel) and of 10 MHz (bottom panel). b) Measured and simulated output voltage of the same rectifier versus frequency at an input voltage amplitude of 5 V (inset: rectifier circuit).