Phototransistors Utilizing Printed Carbon Quantum Material

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This project will study photodetectors that combine the advantages of carbon-based quantum materials and inexpensive and environmentally friendly printing techniques. Photodetectors are used in many aspects of everyday life, industry, safety and security, communication and space. However, quantum devices are often fabricated in very small quantities. It is important for real-life applications to produce them in larger quantities so that we can use their 1D properties on a macroscopic scale. Printable flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE) can benefit the everyday life of Canadians by enabling the low-cost manufacturing of ubiquitous electronics, for example, sensor systems on flexible plastic substrates. This research project will focus on studying phototransistors with a carbon nanotube (CNT)/ polymer blend channel utilizing inkjet printing as a scalable, patterned thin-film deposition technique. CNTs are a one-dimensional quantum material where electrons are confined. With CNTs and polymers in the channel of these photodetectors, the polymer absorbs the photons and converts them into electrical charges, and the CNTs transport charges to the terminals. We will study the effect of printed film morphology and CNT alignment during drying on the blend interfaces and phototransistor performance. Our hypothesis is that the CNT alignment will affect the transport of the photogenerated carriers and potentially charge transfer at the CNT/polymer interface. The project is a collaboration between researchers in Germany at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Canada at York University. The project will be carried out in two phases, fabricate and optoelectronically characterize phototransistors with only the channel material being solution-processed in Germany, and fabricate fully solution-processed phototransistors in Canada. We believe that this project will be the first step in a larger German-Canadian collaboration, which will add to the capacity of the Canadian FHE industry to utilize quantum materials for the manufacturing of electronics in terms of scientific and technological results and student training.