Megahertz Organic Thin-Film Transistors for Flexible Biomedical Systems

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This project aims at a continuation of the work conducted in the project “Megahertz Organic Thin-Film Transistors for Flexible Biomedical Systems” during phase 1 of the DFG Priority Program FFlexCom. For phase 2 of this project, the scope of our contribution is still to develop a deeper understanding of low-voltage organic thin-film transistors (OTFT), to improve and stabilize their device parameters and to design and fabricate critical building blocks for self-sufficient circuits. We are continuously working towards a wirelessly supplied multi-band audio crossover consisting, for instance, of amplifiers, filters, and voltage regulators, i.e. our vision of an OTFT-based cochlea implant.While phase 1 of this project focused on the components required to transmit information from an external station to a biological system, phase 2 will aim in the opposite direction and make bodily signals accessible to an external unit. Possible application scenarios are sweat sensors, lymph-sensing patches, and disposable electrocardiogram (ECG) systems, all of which are based on similar circuitry but require different sensing concepts. The combined efforts of phases 1 and 2 will thus lay the foundation for bidirectional biomedical interfaces aiming towards autonomous closed-loop systems, manufacturable in low-cost organic thin-film technologies.The underlying idea is not to build a one-time-functional demonstrator, but to aim for batch-processed small-series production with predictable yield and qualified specifications. However, such system level development requires not only reliable devices or well-fitted transistor models, but also industry standard electronic design automation (EDA) tools. Our consortium therefore strives to improve and augment our OTFT technology, derive physics-based frequency-dependent models, and develop sophisticated EDA tools in order to create predictable and reliable organic thin-film-transistor systems for body sensor applications.