A combination of surface energy-guided blade coating and inkjet printing is used to fabricate an all-printed high performance, high yield, and low variability organic thin film transistor (OTFT) array on a plastic substrate. Functional inks and printing processes were optimized to yield self-assembled homogenous thin films in every layer of the OTFT stack. Specifically, we investigated the effect of capillary number, semiconductor ink composition (small molecule-polymer ratio), and additive high boiling point solvent concentrations on film fidelity, pattern design, device performance and yields.
film transistor show device performance reaching that of amorphous Si and solution-processed metal oxides. This high performance makes SOCs p-type OTFTs a strong candidate for several future complementary metal-oxide semiconductor applications. [13][14][15] Modulation of scale ratio of devices in a large array is one of the important parameters that governs circuit design. While most printing techniques can provide faster fabrication processes, the rapid on-demand modulation of W/L scale ratio in large array of devices remains as a challenge and a topic to investigate; especially for the myriad of specified circuit designs and application requirements. For instance, the tuning of the gain in each stage of an amplifier [16][17][18] or logic circuits [5] requires the modulation of OTFT W/L ratio. These configuration changes can be challenging, costly, and time consuming for common electrode printing techniques, such as screen printing and gravure printing. [19][20][21][22] These conventional mask-based approaches utilize a fixed pattern transfer that requires a full re-design for every new device structure. [21,23,24] Inkjet printing on the other hand is a nonimpact digital prototyping method that provides instant change of patterns. [25,26] This elimination of mask can reduce the processing costs especially for larger-scale production. [27] However, throughput of inkjet printing can become a limiting factor, especially when depositing over large area. [28] Interdigitated source and drain structure have been used in previous reports as a method to modify W/L ratio for a specific circuit design. [17,[29][30][31] The channel width (W) is modulated by changing the finger count. Meanwhile, channel length (L) is the smallest space between source and drain electrodes, and the resolution is associated to the printing technique. Low switching speed is one of the drawbacks of printed OTFTs compared to conventional Si technology, which can result from a number of factors such as mobility, dielectric layer thickness, and channel length. Achieving channel lengths smaller than 10 µm while maintaining high device yield is very challenging with printing techniques, especially for low-viscosity inks. The solution found to overcome this challenge is to utilize a combination of patterning techniques including the combination of conventional photolithography and direct-write printing techniques. [32] In parallel, there has been an interest to develop methods to decrease the source and drain electrode geometry and channel length using many printing methods. Interdigitated source and drain (SD) electrodes are typically used in electronics to increase channel width while maintaining small channel lengths, resulting in higher W/L ratios. There are few reports on printed interdigitated A fabrication technique that allows aspect ratio modulation in a large array of organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) is demonstrated. In this design, discrete interdigitated source and drain electrodes can be individually selected to create a range of aspe...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.