Brian Keith Crone

Large-scale complementary integrated circuits based on organic transistors

Thin-film transistors based on molecular and polymeric organic materials have been proposed for a number of applications, such as displays and radio-frequency identification tags. The main factors motivating investigations of organic transistors are their lower cost and simpler packaging, relative to conventional inorganic electronics, and their compatibility with flexible substrates. In most digital circuitry, minimal power dissipation and stability of performance against transistor parameter variations are crucial. In silicon-based microelectronics, these are achieved through the use of complementary logic—which incorporates both p- and n-type transistors—and it is therefore reasonable to suppose that adoption of such an approach with organic semiconductors will similarly result in reduced power dissipation, improved noise margins and greater operational stability. Complementary inverters and ring oscillators have already been reported. Here we show that such an approach can realize much larger scales of integration (in the present case, up to 864 transistors per circuit) and operation speeds of ∼1 kHz in clocked sequential complementary circuits.

Paper-like electronic displays: Large-area rubber-stamped plastic sheets of electronics and microencapsulated electrophoretic inks

Electronic systems that use rugged lightweight plastics potentially offer attractive characteristics (low-cost processing, mechanical flexibility, large area coverage, etc.) that are not easily achieved with established silicon technologies. This paper summarizes work that demonstrates many of these characteristics in a realistic system: organic active matrix backplane circuits (256 transistors) for large (≈5 × 5-inch) mechanically flexible sheets of electronic paper, an emerging type of display. The success of this effort relies on new or improved processing techniques and materials for plastic electronics, including methods for (i) rubber stamping (microcontact printing) high-resolution (≈1 μm) circuits with low levels of defects and good registration over large areas, (ii) achieving low leakage with thin dielectrics deposited onto surfaces with relief, (iii) constructing high-performance organic transistors with bottom contact geometries, (iv) encapsulating these transistors, (v) depositing, in a repeatable way, organic semiconductors with uniform electrical characteristics over large areas, and (vi) low-temperature (≈100°C) annealing to increase the on/off ratios of the transistors and to improve the uniformity of their characteristics. The sophistication and flexibility of the patterning procedures, high level of integration on plastic substrates, large area coverage, and good performance of the transistors are all important features of this work. We successfully integrate these circuits with microencapsulated electrophoretic “inks” to form sheets of electronic paper.

Electronic sensing of vapors with organic transistors

We show that organic thin-film transistors have suitable properties for use in gas sensors. Such sensors possess sensitivity and reproducibility in recognizing a range of gaseous analytes. A wealth of opportunities for chemical recognition arise from the variety of mechanisms associated with different semiconductor–analyte interactions, the ability to vary the chemical constitution of the semiconductor end/side groups, and also the nature of the thin-film morphology.

Organic oscillator and adaptive amplifier circuits for chemical vapor sensing

Organic transistor based circuits that can be employed for chemical vapor sensing, are described. Such circuits have improved sensing characteristics in comparison with discrete transistor based sensors. Complementary ring oscillator based sensors have a stronger response to analytes such as octanol and allyl propionate compared to a single transistor. A fabrication process that combines organic semiconductor circuitry with Si is described. The design and advantages of adaptive differential amplifiers with high gain and feedback are described. Voltage gains of ∼20 allow the detection of weak odorant inputs and the adaptive feedback allows for improved background elimination.

Design and fabrication of organic complementary circuits

We have used a simple model description of single field effect transistor characteristics to design organic complementary circuits ranging in complexity from simple inverters through 48-stage shift registers and three-bit row decoders. The circuits were fabricated using standard silicon photolithographic techniques to define the metal, insulator, and interconnect levels. The ohmic source and drain contacts and part of the interconnect metallization were formed by electroless/immersion deposition of Ni-P/Au on prepatterned TiN. The n-type and p-type organic semicondcutors were evaporated onto these substrates to complete the circuits. Measured circuit characteristics were in reasonable agreement with simulations based on the simple device model.

Flicker noise properties of organic thin-film transistors

The low frequency noise properties of organic thin film transistors are studied here as a function of frequency and bias. Various n-channel and p-channel devices were evaluated and found to exhibit 1/f-type of noise in the 1 Hz–10 kHz range. The drain current noise is found to vary proportionally with drain current. The noise level is comparable to that found in Si metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors within the operation region of the devices, owing to the smaller drain currents in organic transistors, although the intrinsic noise is considerably higher in the organic transistors. The viability of using the organic materials in low noise circuits is demonstrated by a ring oscillator.

Ion-modulated ambipolar electrical conduction in thin-film transistors based on amorphous conjugated polymers

Through gate-modulated electrochemical doping, ambipolar operation in thin-film transistors (TFTs) can be realized in air with solution processable conjugated polymers. Unlike other typical organic TFTs, which rely on high crystallinity for better charge transport, these electrochemically-doped transistors operate under a different mechanism and show very high current output even with completely amorphous polymers.

Novel organic and polymeric semiconductors for plastic electronics

Recent research on organic and polymeric semiconductors is directed towards highly ordered molecular structures in solid states. Through molecular design and engineering, it has been shown possible to control the molecular orientation and processing conditions of these materials as well as fine tuning their energy levels and color emissions. Thin film field-effect transistors (FETs) have been used as testing structures for evaluating the semiconducting properties of new organic semiconducting materials. Performance similar to amorphous-Si can now be realized with some organic materials. Large-scale integration of organic transistors has been demonstrated. In addition, several low cost novel non-lithographic patterning methods have been developed, which resulted in the first flexible electronic paper. The field-effect transistor device structure can also be utilized as a means to induce a great amount of charge carriers in organic thin films through the gate field. Using this type of structure, superconductivity was observed in a highly ordered conjugated regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene).