Redox‐Based Resistive Switching Memories – Nanoionic Mechanisms, Prospects, and Challenges

Radio frequency (RF) energy transfer and harvesting techniques have recently become alternative methods to power the next-generation wireless networks As this emerging technology enables proactive energy replenishment of wireless devices, it is advantageous in supporting applications with quality-of-service requirements In this paper, we present a comprehensive literature review on the research progresses in wireless networks with RF energy harvesting capability, which is referred to as RF energy harvesting networks (RF-EHNs) First, we present an overview of the RF-EHNs including system architecture, RF energy harvesting techniques, and existing applications Then, we present the background in circuit design as well as the state-of-the-art circuitry implementations and review the communication protocols specially designed for RF-EHNs We also explore various key design issues in the development of RF-EHNs according to the network types, ie, single-hop networks, multiantenna networks, relay networks, and cognitive radio networks Finally, we envision some open research directions

Wireless Networks With RF Energy Harvesting: A Contemporary Survey

Electron and ambipolar transport in organic field-effect transistors.

Over the past 25 years, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have witnessed impressive improvements in materials performance by 3–4 orders of magnitude, and many of the key materials discoveries have been published in Advanced Materials. This includes some of the most recent demonstrations of organic field-effect transistors with performance that clearly exceeds that of benchmark amorphous silicon-based devices. In this article, state-of-the-art in OFETs are reviewed in light of requirements for demanding future applications, in particular active-matrix addressing for flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. An overview is provided over both small molecule and conjugated polymer materials for which field-effect mobilities exceeding > 1 cm2 V–1 s–1 have been reported. Current understanding is also reviewed of their charge transport physics that allows reaching such unexpectedly high mobilities in these weakly van der Waals bonded and structurally comparatively disordered materials with a view towards understanding the potential for further improvement in performance in the future.

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25th anniversary article: organic field-effect transistors: the path beyond amorphous silicon.

Acenes have long been the subject of intense study because of the unique electronic properties associated with their pi-bond topology. Recent reports of impressive semiconductor properties of larger homologues have reinvigorated research in this field, leading to new methods for their synthesis, functionalization, and purification, as well as for fabricating organic electronic components. Studies performed on high-purity acene single crystals revealed their intrinsic electronic properties and provide useful benchmarks for thin film device research. New approaches to add functionality were developed to improve the processability of these materials in solution. These new functionalization strategies have recently allowed the synthesis of acenes larger than pentacene, which have hitherto been largely unavailable and poorly studied, as well as investigation of their associated structure/property relationships.

The larger acenes: versatile organic semiconductors.

The properties of the dielectric strongly influence the performance of organic thin-film transistors. In this letter, we show experimental results that quantify the influence of the roughness of the dielectric on the mobility of pentacene transistors and discuss the cause of it. We consider the movement of charge carriers out of the “roughness valleys” or across those valleys at the dielectric–semiconductor interface as the limiting step for the roughness-dependent mobility in the transistor channel.

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Influence of the dielectric roughness on the performance of pentacene transistors

Amain focus of research on organic semiconductors is their potential application in passive organic radio-frequency identification (RF-ID) tags. First prototypes working at 125 kHz have been shown by industrial research groups1. However, to be commercially viable, the organic RF-ID tag would need to be compatible with the base-carrier frequency of 13.56 MHz (ref. 2). High-frequency operation has been out of reach for devices based on organic semiconducting material, because of the intrinsically low mobility of those materials. Here, we report on a rectifier based on a pentacene diode that can rectify an incoming a.c. signal at 50 MHz. At 14 MHz, a rectified voltage of 11 V for an a.c. voltage with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 36 V has been achieved. On the basis of those results, we estimate the frequency limits of an organic diode showing that even the ultra-high-frequency band at around 800 MHz is within reach.

50 MHz rectifier based on an organic diode

Organic RFID transponder chip with data rate compatible with electronic product coding

We have adapted the microscopic theory of nucleation for the epitaxial growth of inorganic materials to the nucleation of organic small molecules on an inert substrate like the gate dielectric of an organic thin-film transistor. The parameters required to explore the model were calculated with the standard MM3 force field and also include experimentally determined vapor pressure data, as well as film growth data. Sufficient agreement is found between the experimentally determined equilibrium crystal shape and heats of sublimation on the one hand and the calculated parameters on the other hand. The growth of pentacene, tetracene, and perylene on inert substrates has been studied in terms of this theory, especially focusing on the two-dimensional (2D) to 3D nucleation transition. It is demonstrated that 3D nucleation leads to ill-connected grains, while 2D nucleated grains form continuous films suitable for charge transport. The analysis of this transition allows for the experimental determination of the molecule-substrate interactions for a given molecule on a given surface. It was found that the deposition conditions for 2D growth shift to less favorable substrate temperatures and deposition rates as the difference between interlayer interactions and molecule-substrate interactions increase and the intralayer interactions decrease. Moreover, those interactions affect the nucleation rate and therefore the ultimate 2D grain size that can be obtained.

Nucleation of organic semiconductors on inert substrates

We discuss the design and implementation of 64-bit and 128-bit plastic transponder chips for radio-frequency identification tags. The 64-bit chips, comprising 414 organic thin-film transistors, are integrated into fully functional plastic radio-frequency identification tags with 13.56 MHz communication. The required supply voltage on the tag is generated from the AC input signal detected by the antenna, using a plastic double half-wave rectifier circuit. The tag is fully functional at a magnetic field strength of 1.26 A/m, which is below the minimum required radio-frequency magnetic field stated in the standards. We discuss the reading distance that can be achieved with our plastic rectifiers, and show that this reading distance is not limited by the performance of the plastic rectifier or transponder chip. The 128-bit transponder chip includes further features such as Manchester data encoding and a basic ALOHA anti-collision protocol. It employs 1286 organic thin-film transistors and generates the 128 bit sequence at 24 V supply voltage at a data rate of 1.5 kb/s. Data rates up to 2 kb/s could be achieved on chips with an 8-bit transponder chip. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Soeren Steudel

Papers

Influence of the dielectric roughness on the performance of pentacene transistors

50 MHz rectifier based on an organic diode

Organic RFID transponder chip with data rate compatible with electronic product coding

Nucleation of organic semiconductors on inert substrates

Plastic circuits and tags for 13.56 MHz radio-frequency communication