Kris Myny

Controlled Deposition of Highly Ordered Soluble Acene Thin Films: Effect of Morphology and Crystal Orientation on Transistor Performance

Controlling the morphology of soluble small molecule organic semiconductors is crucial for the application of such materials in electronic devices. Using a simple dip-coating process we systematically vary the film drying speed to produce a range of morphologies, including oriented needle-like crystals. Structural characterization as well as electrical transistor measurements show that intermediate drying velocities produce the most uniformly aligned films.

An 8-Bit, 40-Instructions-Per-Second Organic Microprocessor on Plastic Foil

Forty years after the first silicon microprocessors, we demonstrate an 8-bit microprocessor made from plastic electronic technology directly on flexible plastic foil. The operation speed is today limited to 40 instructions per second. The power consumption is as low as 100 μW. The ALU-foil operates at a supply voltage of 10 V and back-gate voltage of 50 V. The microprocessor can execute user-defined programs: we demonstrate the execution of the multiplication of two 4-bit numbers and the calculation of the moving average of a string of incoming 6-bit numbers. To execute such dedicated tasks on the microprocessor, we create small plastic circuits that generate the sequences of appropriate instructions. The near transparency, mechanical flexibility, and low power consumption of the processor are attractive features for integration on everyday objects, where it could be programmed as, amongst other items, a calculator, timer, or game controller.

Correlation between bias stress instability and phototransistor operation of pentacene thin-film transistors

The authors study the use of pentacene thin-film transistors as phototransistors. The shift in turn-on voltage (Von), responsible for the high photosensitivity of these devices, is shown to be strongly dependent on illumination time and applied gate voltage. The time dependence of this process is similar to the shift in Von during bias stress experiments in the dark, and illumination can simply be accounted for as an acceleration factor for bias stress instability. By comparing the characteristics of devices with different gate dielectrics, trapping of electrons by OH groups at the gate dielectric interface is indicated as a main origin for these shifts.

Comparison of organic diode structures regarding high-frequency rectification behavior in radio-frequency identification tags

In this article, we compare the direct current (dc) and high-frequency performance of two different organic diode structures, a vertical diode and an organic field effect transistor (OTFT) with shorted drain-gate contact, regarding their application in a rectifying circuit. For this purpose, we fabricated both diode structures using the organic semiconductor pentacene. dc measurements were performed showing a space-charge-limited current mobility of more than 0.1cm2∕Vs for the vertical diode and a field effect mobility of 0.8cm2∕Vs for the OTFT with shorted source-drain. High-frequency measurements of those diode structures in a rectifier configuration show that both types of diodes are able to follow the base-carrier frequency of 13.56MHz which is essential for viable radio-frequency-identification (rf-ID) tags. Based on those results we evaluate the performance limits and advantages of each diode configuration regarding their application in an organic rf-ID tag.

Unipolar Organic Transistor Circuits Made Robust by Dual-Gate Technology

Dual-gate organic transistor technology is used to increase the robustness of digital circuits as illustrated by higher inverter gains and noise margins. The additional gate in the technology functions as a VT-control gate. Both zero-VGS-load and diode-load logic are investigated. The noise margin of zero- VGS-load inverter increases from 1.15 V (single gate) to 2.8 V (dual gate) at 20 V supply voltage. Diode-load logic inverters show an improvement in noise margin from ~0 V to 0.7 V for single gate and dual gate inverters, respectively. These values can be increased significantly by optimizing the inverter topologies. As a result of this optimization, noise margins larger than 6 V for zero- VGS-load logic and 1.4 V for diode-load logic are obtained. Functional 99-stage ring oscillators with 2.27 μs stage delays and 64 bit organic RFID transponder chips, operating at a data rate of 4.3 kb/s, have been manufactured.

Low voltage complementary organic inverters

We have developed a method for integrating n- and p-type organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) on the same substrate. An integrated shadow mask was used for the n- and p-type semiconductor patterning. The integrated shadow mask can be aligned with submicron accuracy relative to the OTFT substrate. This allows for the integration at transistor level of n- and p-type OTFTs on the same substrate. A complementary inverter was fabricated, showing excellent performance while operating at a supply voltage of 2V.

An integrated double half-wave organic Schottky diode rectifier on foil operating at 13.56 MHz

We demonstrate an integrated organic double half-wave rectifier for use in organic radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. This rectifier comprises two organic Schottky diodes, each followed by a capacitor, integrated on the same foil. This rectifier delivers approximately twice the dc voltage of single half-wave rectifiers. Its offset voltage is merely 2 V. It is able to generate voltages of 10–14 V, which are necessary for driving current organic RFID multibit code generators, from an ac-input voltage of only 8–10 V amplitude, which are generated at rf magnetic fields of 0.9–1.3 A/m. Such fields are below the minimum required rf magnetic field strength set by standards.

Low-voltage gallium–indium–zinc–oxide thin film transistors based logic circuits on thin plastic foil: Building blocks for radio frequency identification application

In this work a technology to fabricate low-voltage amorphous gallium-indium-zinc oxide thin film transistors (TFTs) based integrated circuits on 25 µm foils is presented. High performance TFTs were fabricated at low processing temperatures (<150 °C) with field effect mobility around 17 cm2 /V s. The technology is demonstrated with circuit building blocks relevant for radio frequency identification applications such as high-frequency functional code generators and efficient rectifiers. The integration level is about 300 transistors.

Integrated shadow mask method for patterning small molecule organic semiconductors

We have developed a simple and efficient method for patterning small molecule semiconductors for applications in the field of organic electronics. In our approach, a profile is created using a single layer of photoresist, defining the regions where the organic semiconductor is to be deposited. Subsequent deposition of a small molecule semiconductor results in a discontinuity of the semiconductor film at the photoresist edge. The resulting transistor characteristics have an off current that is systematically below 1pA. We demonstrate both p-type and n-type organic thin-film transistors using this method, using pentacene and copper hexadecafluorophthalocyanine (F16CuPc), respectively.

Pentacene devices and logic gates fabricated by organic vapor phase deposition

An organic vapor phase deposition (OVPD) tool has been developed and optimized for the deposition of pentacene thin films. Pentacene is grown with a good thickness uniformity, a good material consumption efficiency, and deposition rates up to 9.5 A/s. Top-contact transistors based on OVPD-grown pentacene show high mobilities (up to 1.35 cm(2)/V s) and excellent characteristics, even at high deposition rates. Elementary circuit blocks have also been produced using an OVPD-deposited pentacene film. A five-stage ring oscillator features a stage delay of 2.7 mu s at a supply voltage of 22 V. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.