Younsu Jung

Fully Printed and Encapsulated SWCNT-Based Thin Film Transistors via a Combination of R2R Gravure and Inkjet Printing

Fully printed thin film transistors (TFT) based on poly(9,9-di-n-dodecylfluorene) (PFDD) wrapped semiconducting single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) channels are fabricated by a practical route that combines roll-to-roll (R2R) gravure and ink jet printing. SWCNT network density is easily controlled via ink formulation (concentration and polymer:CNT ratio) and jetting conditions (droplet size, drop spacing, and number of printed layers). Optimum inkjet printing conditions are established on Si/SiO2 in which an ink consisting of 6:1 PFDD:SWCNT ratio with 50 mg L-1 SWCNT concentration printed at a drop spacing of 20 μm results in TFTs with mobilities of ∼25 cm2 V-1 s-1 and on-/off-current ratios > 105. These conditions yield excellent network uniformity and are used in a fully additive process to fabricate fully printed TFTs on PET substrates with mobility values > 5 cm2 V-1 s-1 (R2R printed gate electrode and dielectric; inkjet printed channel and source/drain electrodes). An inkjet printed encapsulation layer completes the TFT process (fabricated in bottom gate, top contact TFT configuration) and provides mobilities > 1 cm2 V-1 s-1 with good operational stability, based on the performance of an inverter circuit. An array of 20 TFTs shows that most have less than 10% variability in terms of threshold voltage, transconductance, on-current, and subthreshold swing.

Fully printed flexible and disposable wireless cyclic voltammetry tag

A disposable cyclic voltammetry (CV) tag is printed on a plastic film by integrating wireless power transmitter, polarized triangle wave generator, electrochemical cell and signage through a scalable gravure printing method. By proximity of 13.56 MHz RF reader, the printed CV tag generates 320 mHz of triangular sweep wave from +500 mV to −500 mV which enable to scan a printed electrochemical cell in the CV tag. By simply dropping any specimen solution on the electrochemical cell in the CV tag, the presence of solutes in the solution can be detected and shown on the signage of the CV tag in five sec. 10 mM of N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) was used as a standard solute to prove the working concept of fully printed disposable wireless CV tag. Within five seconds, we can wirelessly diagnose the presence of TMPD in the solution using the CV tag in the proximity of the 13.56 MHz RF reader. This fully printed and wirelessly operated flexible CV tag is the first of its kind and marks the path for the utilization of inexpensive and disposable wireless electrochemical sensor systems for initial diagnose hazardous chemicals and biological molecules to improve public hygiene and health.

Key Issues With Printed Flexible Thin Film Transistors and Their Application in Disposable RF Sensors

This paper addresses the key issues that must be overcome to realize fully printed TFT-based flexible devices via commercially viable methods. In particular the threshold voltage (Vth) variation in printed TFTs is a serious impediment to the successful launch of fully printed TFT-based devices in the market. The underlying causes of the Vth variation in fully printed TFTs were analyzed by considering the misalignment of printed drain-source to gate electrodes, the rheology of electronic inks and effects from external sources of charge. By alleviating the influences of external sources of charge using a printed passivation layer, Vth variation is maintained below 30% using a fully printed process. Based on the attainable variation range, the required number of integrated TFTs was estimated to fabricate a fully printed TFT-based radio frequency (RF) sensor device. A practical compromise enables fully printed RF sensors to be realized via the scalability of printing processes that mitigate Vth variation by minimizing the level of TFT integration. Prototypes of fully printed RF sensors with human interactive capability-an RF sensor label, and an RF e-sensor (cyclic voltammetry) tag-are enabled with as few as 26 printed TFTs, demonstrating that low-cost and high throughput manufacturing of printed electronics is feasible.

Silver-nanoparticle-based screen-printing and film characterization of a disposable, dual-band, bandstop filter on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate

This paper presents a silver-nanoparticle-based, screen-printed, high-performance, dual-band, bandstop filter (DBBSF) on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Using screen-printing techniques to process a highly viscous silver printing ink, high-conductivity printed lines were implemented at a web transfer speed of 5 m/min. Characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the printed lines were shown to be characterized by smooth surfaces with a root mean square roughness of 7.986 nm; a significantly higher thickness (12.2 µm) than the skin depth; and a high conductivity of 2 × 107 S/m. These excellent printed line characteristics enabled the implementation of a high-selectivity DBBSF using shunt-connected uniform impedance resonators (UIRs). Additionally, the inductive loading effect of T-shaped stubs on the UIRs, which were analyzed using S-parameters based on lumped parameter calculations, was used to improve the return losses of the geometrically optimized DBBSF. The measured minimum return loss and maximum insertion loss of 28.26 and 1.58 dB, respectively, at the central frequencies of 2.56 and 5.29 GHz of a protocol screen-printed DBBSF demonstrated the excellent performance of the material and its significant potential for use in future cost-effective, flexible WiMax and WLAN applications.

Screen-printed flexible bandstop filter on polyethylene terephthalate substrate based on Ag nanoparticles

We present a low-power, cost-effective, highly reproducible, and disposable bandstop filter by employing high-throughput screen-printing technology. We apply large-scale printing strategies using silver-nanoparticle-based ink for the metallization of conductive wires to fabricate a bandstop filter on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The filter exhibits an attenuation pole at 4.35GHz with excellent in-and-out band characteristics. These characteristics reflect a rejection depth that is better than -25 dB with a return loss of -0.75 dB at the normal orientation of the PET substrate. In addition, the filter characteristics are observed at various bending angles (0°, 10°, and 20°) of the PET substrate with an excellent relative standard deviation of less than 0.5%. These results confirm the accuracy, reproducibility, and independence of the resonance frequency. This screen-printing technology for well-defined nanostructures is more favorable than other complex photolithographic processes because it overcomes signal losses due to uneven surface distributions and thereby reveals a homogeneous distribution. Moreover, the proposed methodology enables incremental steps in the process of producing highly flexible and cost-effective printed-electronic radio devices.

Proving Scalability of an Organic Semiconductor To Print a TFT-Active Matrix Using a Roll-to-Roll Gravure

Organic semiconductor-based thin-film transistors’ (TFTs) charge-carrier mobility has been enhanced up to 25 cm2/V s through the improvement of fabrication methods and greater understanding of the microstructure charge-transport mechanism. To expand the practical feasibility of organic semiconductor-based TFTs, their electrical properties should be easily accessed from the fully printed devices through a scalable printing method, such as a roll-to-roll (R2R) gravure. In this study, four commercially available organic semiconductors were separately formulated into gravure inks. They were then employed in the R2R gravure system (silver ink for printing gate and drain–source electrodes and BaTiO3 ink for printing dielectric layers) for printing 20 × 20 TFT-active matrix with the resolution of 10 pixels per inch on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) foils to attain electrical properties of organic semiconductors a practical printing method. Electrical characteristics (mobility, on–off current ratio, threshold voltage, and transconductance) of the R2R gravure-printed 20 × 20 TFT-active matrices fabricated with organic semiconducting ink were analyzed statistically, and the results showed more than 98% device yield and 50 % electrical variations in the R2R gravure TFT-active matrices along the PET web.

Flexible screen printed biosensor with high-Q microwave resonator for rapid and sensitive detection of glucose

This paper presents a rapid and sensitive mediator-free glucose biosensor based on microwave resonator implemented using circularly folded T-shaped uniform impedance resonators, screen printed on flexible polyethylene substrate. As a result of high-Q factor of 160, the proposed glucose biosensor features high sensitivity and ultralow detection limit of 71 MHz/mgmL-1 and 0.0167 μM, respectively, at a central frequency of 11.8 GHz, within linear detection range of 1 to 5 mg/mL. Additionally, the clear dependence of loaded quality factor (QL), return loss (S11), propagation constant (γ), and impedance (Z) on glucose level enables the effective multidimensional detection of glucose sensor.

Roll-to-Roll Gravure Printed Electrochemical Sensors for Wearable and Medical Devices

As recent developments in noninvasive biosensors spearhead the thrust toward personalized health and fitness monitoring, there is a need for high throughput, cost-effective fabrication of flexible sensing components. Toward this goal, we present roll-to-roll (R2R) gravure printed electrodes that are robust under a range of electrochemical sensing applications. We use inks and electrode morphologies designed for electrochemical and mechanical stability, achieving devices with uniform redox kinetics printed on 150 m flexible substrate rolls. We show that these electrodes can be functionalized into consistently high performing sensors for detecting ions, metabolites, heavy metals, and other small molecules in noninvasively accessed biofluids, including sensors for real-time, in situ perspiration monitoring during exercise. This development of robust and versatile R2R gravure printed electrodes represents a key translational step in enabling large-scale, low-cost fabrication of disposable wearable sensors for personalized health monitoring applications.

Fully gravure printed complementary carbon nanotube TFTs for a clock signal generator using an epoxy-imine based cross-linker as an n-dopant and encapsulant

Printed p-type single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based circuits exhibit high power dissipation owing to their thick printed dielectric layers (>2 μm) and long channels (>100 μm). In order to reduce the static power dissipation of printed SWCNT-base circuits while maintaining the same printing conditions and channel lengths, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) based circuits are more ideal. These circuits, however, have not been successfully implemented in a scalable printing platform due to unstable threshold voltages of n-doped SWCNT based thin film transistors (TFTs). In this work, a thermally curable epoxy-imine-based n-doping ink is presented for achieving uniform doping and sealing of SWCNT layers by gravure printing. After printing the n-doping ink, the ink is cured to initiate a cross-linking reaction to seal the n-doped SWCNT-TFTs so that the threshold voltage of the n-doped SWCNT-TFTs is stabilized. Flexible CMOS ring oscillators using such n-doped SWCNT-TFTs combined with the intrinsically p-type SWCNT-TFTs can generate a 0.2 Hz clock signal with significantly lower power consumption compared to similarly printed p-type only TFT based ring oscillators. Moving forward, this CMOS flexible ring oscillator can be practically used to develop fully printed inexpensive wireless sensor tags.

An exploration of ocular glucose levels with flexible RF biosensor using polyethylene terephthalate

This paper presents a minimally invasive, flexible and disposable RF Biosensor used for the detection of Ocular glucose level, employed with the RF resonator analyzed at 4.30 GHz. Linear relationship between glucose concentration in the tear and resonance frequency was obtained in a range of 1-7mg/dl. The new sensor was optimized to achieve very low detection limit of 0.25 mg/dl, which is required to monitor glucose levels in the tear fluid with a sensitivity of 12 MHz/dl. Thus, a considerably lower shift in the resonance frequency was obtained with a maximum and minimum shift of 362 and 60 MHz for the maximum and minimum concentration of 7 mg/dl and 1 mg/dl ocular glucose level, respectively.