Tung Huei Ke

A thin-film microprocessor with inkjet print-programmable memory

The Internet of Things is driving extensive efforts to develop intelligent everyday objects. This requires seamless integration of relatively simple electronics, for example through ‘stick-on electronics labels. We believe the future evolution of this technology will be governed by Wrights Law, which was first proposed in 1936 and states that the cost of a product decreases with cumulative production. This implies that a generic electronic device that can be tailored for application-specific requirements during downstream integration would be a cornerstone in the development of the Internet of Things. We present an 8-bit thin-film microprocessor with a write-once, read-many (WORM) instruction generator that can be programmed after manufacture via inkjet printing. The processor combines organic p-type and soluble oxide n-type thin-film transistors in a new flavor of the familiar complementary transistor technology with the potential to be manufactured on a very thin polyimide film, enabling low-cost flexible electronics. It operates at 6.5u2005V and reaches clock frequencies up to 2.1u2005kHz. An instruction set of 16 code lines, each line providing a 9 bit instruction, is defined by means of inkjet printing of conductive silver inks.

30.1 8b Thin-film microprocessor using a hybrid oxide-organic complementary technology with inkjet-printed P 2 ROM memory

We present an 8b general-purpose microprocessor realized in a hybrid oxide-organic complementary thin-film technology. The n-type transistors are based on a solution-processed n-type metal-oxide semiconductor, and the p-type transistors use an organic semiconductor. As compared to previous work utilizing unipolar logic gates [1], the higher mobility n-type semiconductor and the use of complementary logic allow for a >50x speed improvement. It also adds robustness to the design, which allowed for a more complex and complete standard cell library. The microprocessor consists of two parts, a processor core chip and an instruction generator. The instructions are stored in a Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) memory formatted by a post-fabrication inkjet printing step, called Print-Programmable Read-Only Memory (P2ROM). The entire processing was performed at temperatures compatible with plastic foil substrates, i.e., at or below 250°C [2].

Flexible NAND-Like Organic Ferroelectric Memory Array

We present a memory array of organic ferroelectric field-effect transistors (OFeFETs) on flexible substrates. The OFeFETs are connected serially, similar to the NAND architecture of flash memory, which offers the highest memory density of transistor memories. We demonstrate a reliable addressing scheme in this architecture, without the need for select or access transistors. As proof of principle, a 1 × 4 NAND-like string is fabricated and characterized. Retention up to one month and endurance up to 2500 cycles are shown. Read and write disturb measurements show that the memory array can potentially be scaled up to 8 kbits.

Integrated Line Driver for Digital Pulse-Width Modulation Driven AMOLED Displays on Flex

An integrated scan-line driver, driving half a QQVGA flexible AMOLED display using amorphous-IGZO backplane technology on foil, has been designed and measured. A pulse-width modulation technique has been implemented, enabling to drive the OLEDs with a duty cycle up to almost 100%. The digital driving method also results in a 40% static power reduction of the display. Dynamic logic and bootstrapping techniques enabled the use of clock frequencies up to 300 kHz in unipolar amorphous-IGZO technologies on foil.

30.2 Digital PWM-driven AMOLED display on flex reducing static power consumption

The efficiency of small-molecule OLED devices increased substantially in recent years, creating opportunities for power-efficient displays, as only light is generated proportional to the subpixel intensity. However, current active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays on foil do not validate this power-efficient advantage, as too much power is lost in the AM backplane. AMOLED displays use the analog voltage on the gate of a drive transistor (e.g. M1 in Fig. 30.2.1) to control the pixel current and hence the pixel brightness. Accurate and uniform pixel currents can only be obtained when transistor M1 is driven is saturation. In highresolution technologies on foil, transistor parameters W, L and the mobility μ are limited by technology, imposing a minimal VGS-VT to obtain sufficient current, i.e. VGS-VT > 4V for a-IGZO on foil [1]. Subsequently, to obtain saturation, VDS > 4V, which translates in a static backplane power loss surpassing the OLED power consumption (see red stars in Fig 30.2.1). However, when the OLED pixel impedance around a specific reference current can be matched along a display column line, the accurate pixel current control can be imposed by current DACs implemented in external silicon display column drivers. In this work, we operate M1 as a switch and pixel intensity variations are obtained using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) of a predefined pixel current, i.e. 2μA/pixel [80*80μm2] (which corresponds in our OLED technology to a light output of 2000Cd/m2). When, in a future implementation the external DACs are calibrated at 0.2μA/pixel, the full brightness would correspond to the typical display brightness of a portable PC, i.e. 200Cd/m2. This concept enables us to reduce the display power voltage at full brightness from 8.2V in a classical AMOLED display on foil configuration to 5V (measured) and for future implementations even down to 4V (see Fig. 30.2.1). As the OLED current load remains equal, a corresponding static power reduction of the display (and increased battery lifetime) is obtained. Digital driving methods of AMOLED displays have been shown before. However, ΔΣ techniques [2] still integrate charge packets on the gate of M1 and hence do not solve the power issue on foil. Other PWM techniques [3] activate only a single active line in the linedriver yielding difficulties to obtain color depths above 6 bits. When multiple independent linedrivers are implemented and their output is multiplexed to alternately drive a single select line, a higher color depth can be obtained [4]. This leads however to a bulky linedriver, which is hard to get within an e.g. 80μm pitch. The design and implementation of a compact integrated linedriver on foil enabling multiple alternating active signals through a single shift register is demonstrated here.

Ultralow power transponder in thin film circuit technology on foil with sub − 1V operation voltage

An ultra low power (ULP) transponder chip (XPDR) with sub 1V operation voltage is demonstrated by organic complementary (CMOS) thin film circuits (TFTs) on foil. The lowest operation voltage of the XPDR is down to 0.55V with a data rate of 35 bits/second. The power consumption (Ptot) of the XPDR is 2.5 μW at Vdd of 0.9 V and is 16 μW at Vdd of 2 V. A commercial AAA battery is employed to power the XPDR with an estimated run-time of more than 20 years.

Solving the technology barriers in flexible AMOLED displays

In this paper, we present some of the technology challenges and process temperature trade-offs when realizing AM OLED displays on thin flexible plastic films that can be mechanically bent to a roll radius of ~1 cm. We furthermore present complementary approaches to realize low-power, high resolution OLED displays using self-aligned IGZO TFT architecture; a novel driving method using a compact 2T-1C pixel engine.