Sung Jin Jo

Transparent organic light-emitting diodes consisting of a metal oxide multilayer cathode

The authors have developed a semitransparent, multilayered cathode of indium tin oxide (ITO)/Ag/tungsten oxide (WO3) for transparent organic light-emitting diodes. The device showed a weak negative differential resistance (NDR), until the operating voltage of 8V was reached. NDR was due to the resonant tunneling by both the quantum barrier and quantum well. The silver oxide (Ag2O) on the Ag metal was confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the energy levels of Ag2O were quantized due to the quantum size effect and this produced the resonant tunneling channels. The device using ITO∕Ag∕WO3 with a LiF∕Al bilayer was superior to those devices which only used ITO or WO3, mainly because the out coupling was enhanced by employing a WO3 material, which is much more transparent than ITO.

Indium Oxide Thin-Film Transistors Fabricated by RF Sputtering at Room Temperature

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated using an indium oxide (In₂O₃) thin film as the n-channel active layer by RF sputtering at room temperature. The TFTs showed a thickness-dependent performance in the range of 48-8 nm, which is ascribed to the total carrier number in the active layer. Optimum device performance at 8-nm-thick In₂O₃ TFTs had a field-effect mobility of 15.3 cm² · V^-1 · s^-1, a threshold voltage of 3.1 V, an ON-OFF current ratio of 2.2 × 10⁸, a subthreshold gate voltage swing of 0.25 V · decade^-1, and, most importantly, a normally OFF characteristic. These results suggest that sputter-deposited In₂O₃ is a promising candidate for high-performance TFTs for transparent and flexible electronics.

No bias pi cell using a dual alignment layer with an intermediate pretilt angle

The authors fabricated a no-bias pi cell using a dual alignment layer with an intermediate pretilt angle via a rubbing. In the dual alignment layer system, the competition between crest region favoring the vertical alignment and trough region favoring planar alignment made it possible to achieve various pretilt angles, and adjusted pretilt angle from 90° to 20° with rubbing. In addition, as the intermediate pretilt angle plays a role in eliminating the activation energy and thus allowing formation of the initial bend state in pi cell fabrication, this approach achieved a no-bias pi cell for a liquid crystal display with both low power consumption and fast response.

High-k and low-k nanocomposite gate dielectrics for low voltage organic thin film transistors

CeO2–SiO2 nanocomposite films were used as the gate dielectrics in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with pentacene active semiconductor. CeO2–SiO2 composite films exhibited a high dielectric capacitance of 57nF∕cm2 with exceptionally low leakage current. Good device characteristics were obtained with saturation at low operating voltages (∼2V) and with a field effect mobility of 0.84cm2V−1s−1, a threshold voltage of ∼0.25V, an on/off current ratio of 103, and a subthreshold slope of 0.3V∕decade, whereas the gate leakage current density is considerably lowered. These results should therefore increase the prospects of using OTFTs in low power applications such as portable devices.

Superhydrophobic modification of gate dielectrics for densely packed pentacene thin film transistors

Pentacene organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with low-k and high-k hybrid gate dielectrics by CF4 plasma treatment exhibited excellent device performance with field effect mobilities (maximum 1.41cm2∕Vs), a low threshold voltage of +1V, and on/off current ratios of 105 at −5V gate bias. After CF4 plasma treatment, fluorine atoms diffuse into the interior low-k polymer and eliminate ionic impurities which reduce the leakage current density and overall pentacene initial growth on the superhydrophobic surface is significantly improved. It seems apparent that proper surface treatment is desirable for higher quality pentacene film and improving the performance of OTFTs.

Ultraviolet-enduring performance of flexible pentacene TFTs with SnO2 encapsulation films

We report on the fabrication of flexible pentacene thin-film transistors (TFTs) encapsulated with an ultraviolet (UV)-protecting SnO 2 thin-film that has been prepared by ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD). We deposited thermally evaporated SnO 2 on a pentacene TFT as a buffer layer prior to the IBAD process. When a UV light of 254 nm wavelength was continuously illuminated onto our encapsulated device for periods of 5, 30, 60, and 120 min under a vacuum of 1 X 10 -6 Torr, its field mobility gradually degraded from 0.34 to 0.22 cm 2 /V s in 2 h while the other device without encapsulation rapidly degraded (its mobility was reduced to 0.021 cm 2 /V s during the same period). Our X-ray diffraction data indicates that the UV-induced-degradation of device characteristics is directly correlated to the degradation of pentacene crystallinity against UV radiation. We conclude that our IBAD SnO 2 encapsulation is a promising way to protect pentacene TFTs.

Transparent organic light-emitting diodes using resonant tunneling double barrier structures

A semitransparent cathode of indium tin oxide (ITO)/Ag/ITO was developed as a resonant tunneling double barrier structure for transparent organic light-emitting diodes. A weak negative differential resistance was observed in devices using a 100nm thick ITO/Ag/ITO layer as a cathode in combination with a thin LiF∕Al layer. The current injection of devices was dominated by resonant tunneling, which induced no luminance at low voltage. This was achieved by employing an e-beam evaporated ITO/Ag/ITO cathode due to the double quantum barriers of ITO and the quantum well of Ag. The authors also applied the multilayer cathode to small molecule devices, which showed the same resonant tunneling currents.

Increase in indium diffusion by tetrafluoromethane plasma treatment and its effects on the device performance of polymer light-emitting diodes

The effects of tetrafluoromethane (CF4) plasma treatment of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) anode on indium diffusion into a poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulphonate) (PEDOT:PSS) layer were studied. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profile showed that 0.2at.% indium was present in the PEDOT:PSS layer when ITO was not plasma treated. The plasma treatment of ITO increased the indium concentration to ∼6at.%. The increase in indium can be explained by an oxygen deficiency in the CF4 plasma treated ITO. The presence of indium in the PEDOT:PSS layer showed a correlation with performance degradation of polymer light-emitting diodes.

Low-voltage-driven bottom-gate amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors with high dielectric constant oxide/polymer double-layer dielectric

In this study, we report on the fabrication of a low-voltage-driven bottom-gate amorphous indium–gallium–zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor with a high-k oxide/polymer double-layer dielectric on a glass substrate. The hybrid double-layer dielectric was formed through a sequential process of e-beam evaporation of 300-nm-thick amorphous high-k oxide (SiO2–CeO2 mixture) and spin coating of poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP). The channel layer was deposited by rf magnetron cosputtering with InGaZO4 and ZnO dual targets at room temperature in argon and oxygen mixed-gas atmosphere. The room-temperature-deposited a-IGZO channel with the hybrid double-layer dielectric exhibits the operating characteristics of a threshold voltage of 1.7 V, drain-source current on/off modulation ratio (Ion/Ioff) of ~2.9×104, and field effect mobility of 0.97 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 5 V.

Polymeric tandem organic light-emitting diodes using a self-organized interfacial layer

The authors have demonstrated efficient polymeric tandem organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a self-organized interfacial layer, which was formed by differences in chemical surface energy. Hydrophilic poly(styrene sulfonate)-doped poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT:PSS) was spin coated onto the hydrophobic poly(9,9-dyoctilfluorene) (PFO) surface and a PEDOT:PSS bubble or dome was built as an interfacial layer. The barrier heights of PEDOT:PSS and PFO in the two-unit tandem OLED induced a charge accumulation at the interface in the heterojunction and thereby created exciton recombination at a much higher level than in the one-unit reference. This effect was confirmed in both the hole only and the electron only devices.