Low-voltage pentacene organic field-effect transistors with high-κ HfO2 gate dielectrics and high stability under bias stress

Abstract: The past couple of years have witnessed a remarkable burst in the development of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), with a number of organic semiconductors surpassing the benchmark mobility of 10 cm2/(V s). In this perspective, we highlight some of the major milestones along the way to provide a historical view of OFET development, introduce the integrated molecular design concepts and process engineering approaches that lead to the current success, and identify the challenges ahead to make OFETs applicable in real applications.

Abstract: Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is gaining attention as a thin film deposition method, uniquely suitable for depositing uniform and conformal films on complex three-dimensional topographies. The deposition of a film of a given material by ALD relies on the successive, separated, and self-terminating gas–solid reactions of typically two gaseous reactants. Hundreds of ALD chemistries have been found for depositing a variety of materials during the past decades, mostly for inorganic materials but lately also for organic and inorganic–organic hybrid compounds. One factor that often dictates the properties of ALD films in actual applications is the crystallinity of the grown film: Is the material amorphous or, if it is crystalline, which phase(s) is (are) present. In this thematic review, we first describe the basics of ALD, summarize the two-reactant ALD processes to grow inorganic materials developed to-date, updating the information of an earlier review on ALD [R. L. Puurunen, J. Appl. Phys. 97, 121301 (2005)], and give an overview of the status of processing ternary compounds by ALD. We then proceed to analyze the published experimental data for information on the crystallinity and phase of inorganic materials deposited by ALD from different reactants at different temperatures. The data are collected for films in their as-deposited state and tabulated for easy reference. Case studies are presented to illustrate the effect of different process parameters on crystallinity for representative materials: aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, zinc oxide, titanium nitride, zinc zulfide, and ruthenium. Finally, we discuss the general trends in the development of film crystallinity as function of ALD process parameters. The authors hope that this review will help newcomers to ALD to familiarize themselves with the complex world of crystalline ALD films and, at the same time, serve for the expert as a handbook-type reference source on ALD processes and film crystallinity.

Abstract: Recent advances in flexible and stretchable electronics (FSE), a technology diverging from the conventional rigid silicon technology, have stimulated fundamental scientific and technological research efforts. FSE aims at enabling disruptive applications such as flexible displays, wearable sensors, printed RFID tags on packaging, electronics on skin/organs, and Internet-of-things as well as possibly reducing the cost of electronic device fabrication. Thus, the key materials components of electronics, the semiconductor, the dielectric, and the conductor as well as the passive (substrate, planarization, passivation, and encapsulation layers) must exhibit electrical performance and mechanical properties compatible with FSE components and products. In this review, we summarize and analyze recent advances in materials concepts as well as in thin-film fabrication techniques for high-k (or high-capacitance) gate dielectrics when integrated with FSE-compatible semiconductors such as organics, metal oxides, quantum...

Abstract: Charge carrier mobility is an essential parameter providing control over the performance of semiconductor devices fabricated using a variety of organic molecular materials. Recent design strategies toward molecular materials have been directed at the substitution of amorphous silicon-based semiconductors; accordingly, numerous measurement techniques have been designed and developed to probe the electronic conducting nature of organic materials bearing extremely wide structural variations in comparison with inorganic and/or metal-oxide semiconductor materials. The present perspective highlights the evaluation methodologies of charge carrier mobility in organic materials, as well as the merits and demerits of techniques examining the feasibility of organic molecules, crystals, and supramolecular assemblies in semiconductor applications. Beyond the simple substitution of amorphous silicon, we have attempted to address in this perspective the systematic use of measurement techniques for future development of organic molecular semiconductors.

Abstract: An efficient way to reduce the supply voltages of organic field-effect transistors is the use of high-k inorganic materials. In order to allow high throughput during fabrication, solution-based processes for realizing inorganic dielectrics by using sol–gel procedures have become attractive in recent years. However, this procedure typically involves extended high-temperature annealing steps to achieve high-quality insulating layers which hampers fast fabrication and is incompatible to be carried out on low-temperature organic substrates. In this work, the use of a photonic curing technique is presented for the annealing of sol–gel derived hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ) dielectrics within a few seconds. The investigations demonstrate the reduction of the leakage current density of more than 3 orders of magnitude after the photonic curing process reaching only slightly higher values as obtained with dielectric films formed from highly sophisticated atomic layer deposition. Moreover, capacitance measurements reveal a dielectric constant of 26 indicating bulk-like properties. Furthermore, organic transistors based on photonically cured HfO 2 sol–gel dielectrics are fabricated and characterized operating at low voltages ( 2 /Vs using a semiconducting liquid-crystal polymer.

Abstract: At present, flexible displays are an important focus of research1,2,3 Further development of large, flexible displays requires a cost-effective manufacturing process for the active-matrix backplane, which contains one transistor per pixel One way to further reduce costs is to integrate (part of) the display drive circuitry, such as row shift registers, directly on the display substrate Here, we demonstrate flexible active-matrix monochrome electrophoretic displays based on solution-processed organic transistors on 25-μm-thick polyimide substrates The displays can be bent to a radius of 1 cm without significant loss in performance Using the same process flow we prepared row shift registers With 1,888 transistors, these are the largest organic integrated circuits reported to date More importantly, the operating frequency of 5 kHz is sufficiently high to allow integration with the display operating at video speed This work therefore represents a major step towards 'system-on-plastic'

Abstract: Al2O3 films were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at temperatures as low as 33 °C in a viscous-flow reactor using alternating exposures of Al(CH3)3 (trimethylaluminum [TMA]) and H2O. Low-temperature Al2O3 ALD films have the potential to coat thermally fragile substrates such as organic, polymeric, or biological materials. The properties of low-temperature Al2O3 ALD films were investigated versus growth temperature by depositing films on Si(100) substrates and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors. Al2O3 film thicknesses, growth rates, densities, and optical properties were determined using surface profilometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), QCM, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Al2O3 film densities were lower at lower deposition temperatures. Al2O3 ALD film densities were 3.0 g/cm3 at 177 °C and 2.5 g/cm3 at 33 °C. AFM images showed that Al2O3 ALD films grown at low temperatures were very smooth with a root-mean-squared (RMS) roughness of only 4 ± 1 A. Current−voltage and capacitance−voltage...

Abstract: I. SEMICONDUCTOR FUNDAMENTALS. 1. Semiconductors -- A General Introduction. General Material Properties. Crystal Structure. Crystal Growth. 2. Carrier Modeling. The Quantization Concept. Semiconductor Models. Carrier Properties. State and Carrier Distributions. Equilibrium Carrier Concentrations. 3. Carrier Action. Drift. Diffusion. Recombination -- Generation. Equations of State. Supplemental Concepts. 4. Basics of Device Fabrication. Fabrication Processes. Device Fabrication Examples. R1. Part I Supplement and Review. Alternative/Supplemental Reading List. Figure Sources/Cited References. Review List of Terms. Part I Review Problem Sets and Answers. IIA. PN JUNCTION DIODES. 5. PN Junction Electrostatics. Preliminaries. Quantitative Electrostatic Relationships. 6. PN Junction Diode -- I-V Characteristics. The Ideal Diode Equation. Deviations from the Ideal. Special Considerations. 7. PN Junction Diode -- Small-Signal Admittance. Introduction. Reverse-Bias Junction Capacitance. Forward-Bias Diffusion Admittance. 8. PN Junction Diode -- Transient Response. Turn-Off Transient. Turn-On Transient. 9. Optoelectronic Diodes. Introduction. Photodiodes. Solar Cells. LEDs. IIB. BJTS AND OTHER JUNCTION DEVICES. 10. BJT Fundamentals. Terminology. Fabrication. Electrostatics. Introductory Operational Considerations. Performance Parameters. 11. BJT Static Characteristics. Ideal Transistor Analysis. Deviations from the Ideal. Modern BJT Structures. 12. BJT Dynamic Response Modeling. Equivalent Circuits. Transient (Switching) Response. 13. PNPN Devices. Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR). SCR Operational Theory. Practical Turn-on/Turn-off Considerations. Other PNPN Devices. 14. MS Contacts and Schottky Diodes. Ideal MS Contacts. Schottky Diode. Practical Contact Considerations. R2. Part II Supplement and Review. Alternative/Supplemental Reading List. Figure Sources/Cited References. Review List of Terms. Part II Review Problem Sets and Answers. III. FIELD EFFECT DEVICES. 15. Field Effect Introduction -- the J-FET and MESFET. General Introduction. J-FET. MESFET. 16. MOS Fundamentals. Ideal Structure Definition. Electrostatics -- Mostly Qualitative. Electrostatics -- Quantitative Formulation. Capacitance-Voltage Characteristics. 17. MOSFETs -- The Essentials. Qualitative Theory of Operation. Quantitative ID - VD Relationships. ac Response. 18. Nonideal MOS. Metal-Semiconductor Workfunction Difference. Oxide Charges. MOSFET Threshold Considerations. 19. Modern FET Structures. Small Dimension Effects. Select Structure Survey. R3. Part III Supplement and Review. Alternative/Supplemental Reading List. Figure Sources/Cited References. Review List of Terms. Part III Review Problem Sets and Answers. Appendix A. Elements of Quantum Mechanics. Appendix B. MOS Semiconductor Electrostatics -- Exact Solution. Appendix C. MOS C-V Supplement. Appendix D. MOS I-Vsupplement. Appendix E. List of Symbols. Appendix M. MATLAB Program Script.

Abstract: We have fabricated pentacene organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) driven active matrix organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays on flexible polyethylene terephthalete substrates These displays have 48×48 bottom-emission OLED pixels with two pentacene OTFTs used per pixel Parylene is used to isolate the OTFTs and OLEDs with good OTFT yield and uniformity

Abstract: Printed electronics provides a promising potential pathway toward the realization of ultralow-cost RFID tags for item-level tracking of consumer goods. Here, we report on our progress in developing materials, processes, and devices for the realization of ultralow-cost printed RFID tags. Using printed nanoparticle patterns that are subsequently sintered at plastic-compatible temperatures, low-resistance interconnects and passive components have been realized. Simultaneously, printed transistors with mobilities >10/sup -1/ cm/sup 2//V-s have been realized using novel pentacene and oligothiophene precursors for pMOS and ZnO nanoparticles for nMOS. AC performance of these devices is adequate for 135-kHz RFID, though significant work remains to be done to achieve 13.56-MHz operation.