Improving the design and performance of polymer thin-film transistors for circuit applications.

摘要标题：改进用于电路应用的聚合物薄膜晶体管的设计和性能。非技术描述：聚合物薄膜晶体管是其中的半导体材料不是硅或非晶硅，而是聚合物的电路元件。这类元件正被积极地用于各种应用，包括柔性显示器、生物兼容电子学和大面积电子学。聚合物晶体管对这些应用的吸引力来自于简单的制造方法和低成本，其中许多是灵活的。可以通过诸如喷墨打印之类的简单工艺来沉积聚合物半导体，其中墨水中含有聚合物。打印机定义了半导体沉积的区域。还需要沉积绝缘层和导体以完成制造过程。拟议研究的目的是改进聚合物晶体管的设计，使其性能更好：具有更高的速度和更好的开关特性。要做到这一点，我们将研究电荷在这种聚合物中的运动方式，以便我们能够设计出提高它们的速度的方法，从而使晶体管切换得更快。我们将开发新的和改进的测量方法，以便我们可以对晶体管的运行有更深入的了解。这些改进的聚合物晶体管将用于构建触发器和移位寄存器等逻辑电路，以了解它们在电路中的表现。这一点很重要，因为大多数实际应用都涉及到涉及许多组件的电路的构建。这项研究的结果将对柔性和可印刷电子领域产生影响。技术描述：该项目将分析将采用聚合物半导体的新场效应晶体管器件结构，目标是实现器件和电路性能的极大改善。除了提高机动性和速度外，还将注意旨在降低工作电压的器件设计。本项目将详细讨论施主-受主聚合物中霍尔迁移率的测量，并使用霍尔效应和时间分辨电流-电压测量来详细表征和了解这些具有很大前景的聚合物半导体中的电荷传输。我们已经开发了在100 ns到许多秒的时间尺度上表征器件的方法，这些方法将与霍尔效应测量一起使用。到目前为止，聚合物半导体中一些最高的迁移率是在3-15cm2/V-S范围内，可能有更高的迁移率。这些相对较大的迁移率将导致增强的载流子离域，这将被详细描述，导致对输运和器件物理的更好的理论理解。我们还将开发先进的器件结构，包括新的栅绝缘体组合和源极/漏极材料，使用优化的工艺条件来改善分子有序性，从而提高迁移率和工作寿命。我们将演示D触发器和移位寄存器等低电压、高速时钟时序电路。这些新的和改进的器件以及将用它们构建的电路将有助于印刷电子领域。

Abstract Title: Improving the design and performance of polymer thin-film transistors for circuit applications.Nontechnical Description: Polymer thin-film transistors are circuit components in which the semiconductor material is not silicon or amorphous silicon, but a polymer. Such components are being actively pursued for a variety of applications including flexible displays, biocompatible electronics, and large-area electronics. The attractiveness of polymer transistors for these applications, many of which are flexible, stem from simple fabrication methods and low costs. It is possible to deposit a polymer semiconductor by a simple process such as inkjet printing, in which the ink contains the polymer. The printer defines the area where the semiconductor is deposited. It is also necessary to deposit insulating layers and conductors to complete the fabrication process. The aim of the proposed research is to improve the design of polymer transistors so that they perform better: possess higher speed and better switching characteristics. To do this, we will study how charges move in such polymers so that we can devise ways to increase their speeds so that the transistor will switch faster. We will develop new and improved measurements so we can get a deeper understanding of transistor operation. These improved polymer transistors will be used to build logic circuits such as flip-flops and shift registers to see how they perform in a circuit. This is important since most practical applications involve the construction of circuits involving many components. The results of this research will impact the fields of flexible and printable electronics.Technical Description: This project will analyze new field-effect transistor device structures that will employ polymer semiconductors with the goal of realizing vastly improved device and circuit performance. In addition to increasing the mobility and speed, attention will be paid to device designs aimed at lowering the operating voltage. This project will address in detail the measurement of Hall mobility in donor-acceptor polymers and use the Hall Effect along with time-resolved current-voltage measurements to get a detailed characterization and understanding of charge transport in these polymeric semiconductors that show much promise. We have developed methods to characterize devices at timescales ranging from 100 ns to many seconds which will be employed along with Hall Effect measurements. Some of the highest mobilities that have been hitherto achieved in polymer semiconductors are in the 3-15 cm2/V-s range, with higher mobilities possible. These relatively large mobilities will result in enhanced carrier delocalization, which will be characterized in detail, leading to an improved theoretical understanding of transport and device physics. We will also develop advanced device structures that will involve new gate insulator combinations and source/drain materials, the use of optimized process conditions to improve molecular ordering and therefore mobilities and operating lifetime. We will demonstrate low-voltage, high speed clocked sequential circuits such as D-Flip Flops and shift registers. These new and improved devices and the circuits that will be constructed with them will help the field of printed electronics.