Improving the Long-Term Reliability of Digital Organic Circuits (ILDOC)

提高数字有机电路 (ILDOC) 的长期可靠性

• 批准号: 323274811
• 负责人: Dr. Hagen Klauk
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung (MPI-FKF)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/323274811?language=en
• 关键词: Improving; Long; Term; Reliability; Digital

The main objective of the proposed research project is to improve the applicability of organic circuits in real-life applications by increasing the expected circuit lifetime. We intend to tackle the pressing issue of circuit aging with two main strategies, which require innovations both on technological issues as well as on circuit design aspects: First, by increasing the number of feasible topologies by means of improving the organic n-channel devices whilst in parallel optimizing the digital gate topologies. On the side of the circuit design, this will require the first reported systematic characterization, evaluation and optimization of possible gate topologies with regard to aging-aware reliability. As key result, we aim to find and implement the most promising candidates for gate design with the lowest susceptibility to the parameter shifts induced by device aging. We evaluate the exposure of the critical devices to gate bias stress, which is the most critical parameter for device aging. A major impediment for the design of gates in current organic technologies is the strong asymmetry between p- and n-channel transistor performance. To widen the design space available for circuit design, we therefore aim to improve the n-channel transistor performance in terms of mobility and bias stress stability to bring it closer to the one of the p-channel device. Incorporation of new semiconductor materials and optimization of the fabrication process will be necessary to achieve this goal.As a parallel approach and second strategy for circuit lifetime enhancement, we will for the first time explore the prospects of low-voltage design in organic circuits. As device aging exhibits an exponential dependence on the gate bias levels, the reduction of supply voltage is on the one hand an extremely promising approach for lifetime improvement. On the other hand, process variability (matching) hinders operation at low voltages. This will again require careful evaluation of gate topologies to find the most promising candidates for low-voltage operation. Furthermore, the optimum supply voltage with respect to reliability, the necessary performance trade-offs and the achievable improvements in circuit lifetime will need to be investigated. In parallel, the transistor device engineering will be optimized specifically for operation at low supply voltages. This will require a better understanding of the trade-offs that come with the use of different gate dielectrics and the corresponding differing material properties, especially regarding parameters like mobility, threshold voltage and bias stress stability. This range of devices will be used in the circuit-level analysis, which on one hand will considerably broaden the design space for circuit design; on the other hand, it will also allow an evaluation of transistor implementations which offer the best performance trade-off from a circuit point of view.

拟议研究项目的主要目标是通过增加预期的电路寿命来提高有机电路在实际应用中的适用性。我们打算用两种主要策略来解决电路老化的紧迫问题，这需要在技术问题和电路设计方面进行创新：第一，通过提高有机n沟道器件来增加可行拓扑的数量，同时并行优化数字门拓扑。在电路设计方面，这将需要第一次报告的系统表征，评估和优化可能的栅极拓扑结构方面的老化意识的可靠性。作为关键的结果，我们的目标是找到并实现最有前途的候选人的栅极设计与最低的敏感性引起的器件老化的参数变化。我们评估了关键器件暴露于栅极偏置应力，这是器件老化的最关键参数。当前有机技术中栅极设计的主要障碍是p沟道和n沟道晶体管性能之间的强不对称性。为了拓宽电路设计的设计空间，我们的目标是提高n沟道晶体管在迁移率和偏置应力稳定性方面的性能，使其更接近p沟道器件。为了实现这一目标，新的半导体材料的引入和制造工艺的优化将是必要的。作为提高电路寿命的并行方法和第二策略，我们将首次探索有机电路中低电压设计的前景。由于器件老化表现出对栅极偏置电平的指数依赖性，因此电源电压的降低一方面是用于寿命改善的非常有前途的方法。另一方面，工艺可变性（匹配）阻碍了在低电压下的操作。这将再次需要仔细评估栅极拓扑结构，以找到最有前途的候选人低电压操作。此外，最佳电源电压方面的可靠性，必要的性能权衡和可实现的改善电路寿命将需要进行调查。同时，晶体管器件工程将专门针对低电源电压下的操作进行优化。这将需要更好地理解使用不同的栅极电阻和相应的不同材料特性所带来的权衡，特别是关于迁移率、阈值电压和偏置应力稳定性等参数。这一系列器件将用于电路级分析，这一方面将大大拓宽电路设计的设计空间;另一方面，它也将允许从电路角度评估提供最佳性能权衡的晶体管实现。