All ink-jet printed low-voltage organic field-effect transistors on flexible substrate

Abstract

In this work, all ink-jet printed (IJP) low-voltage organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) on flexible substrate are reported. The OFETs use IJP silver (Ag) for source/drain/gate electrodes, poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP) for gate dielectric, 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)-pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) blended with polystyrene (PS) as the semiconducting layer and CYTOP for encapsulation layer. All the printing processes were carried out in ambient air environment using a single laboratory ink-jet printer Dimatix DMP-2831. The all IJP device presents state-of-the-art performance with low operation voltage down to 3 V, small subthreshold swing (SS) of 0.155 V/decade, mobility of 0.26 cm 2 V-1 s-1 , threshold voltage (V th) of-0.17 V and on/off ratio of 3.1×10 5 , along with a yield of 62.5%. Through interface engineering and proper process optimization, this work demonstrates a promising low-voltage all IJP device platform for low-cost flexible printed electronics. Keywords Organic field effect transistors (OFETs); all ink-jet printed TFTs; low-voltage operation §: Linrun Feng and Chen Jiang contributed equally to this work.

Current Status and Opportunities of Organic Thin-Film Transistor Technologies

“…Therefore, a relatively thick low-k polymer dielectric can be applied, which can help to achieve excellent stability and also has wide material choices [71], [72], [83], [86], [87]. Such a low-voltage OTFT can be fabricated by inkjet printing all layers including electrodes, gate dielectric, OSC, and encapsulation layers, proving the most economic manufacturing approach [111].…”

Organic Field‐Effect Transistor for Energy‐Related Applications: Low‐Power‐Consumption Devices, Near‐Infrared Phototransistors, and Organic Thermoelectric Devices

“…[87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98] The lack of dipoles and hydrophobic nature of most polymer dielectrics may be beneficial for organic semiconductor deposition as well as the electrical performance and stability of OFETs. [87][88][89][90][91]94,95] In these devices, the ultrathin crystalline organic semiconductor brings a significantly low level of semiconductor bulk and interface trap density. The sharp turn-on slope in the subthreshold region (i.e., steep SS) and small V th of the OFET enable the device to reach the saturation state at a smaller gate bias.…”

Morphology Influence on the Mechanical Stress Response in Bendable Organic Field‐Effect Transistors with Solution‐Processed Semiconductors

“…[6], [7] Among the different technologies, organic electronics is generally considered the most suitable for the complete exploitation of the potentialities of flexible electronics. Organic materials can be solution-processed at low temperatures by means of cost-effective techniques, [8]- [9] thus being perfectly suitable for large-area fabrication of electronic devices on flexible substrates, including plastic, [10]- [12] paper [13] and fabric. [14]- [16] Mechanical stability of organic electronic devices has been thoroughly explored in the last decade, in particular for Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs), and it was found that, in this kind of structure, the mechanical sensitivity is mainly related to the morphological characteristics of the organic semiconductor film.…”