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The development of organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) for high-frequency applications requires a detailed understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence their dynamic performance. This includes a wide range of properties, such as the device architecture, the contact resistance, parasitic capacitances, and intentional or unintentional asymmetries of the gate-to-contact overlaps. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the highest-performing flexible organic TFTs reported to date. For this purpose, we have developed the first compact model that provides a complete and accurate closed-form description of the frequency-dependent small-signal gain of organic field-effect transistors. The model properly accounts for all relevant secondary effects, such as the contact resistance, fringe capacitances, the subthreshold regime, charge traps, and non-quasistatic effects. We have analyzed the frequency behavior of low-voltage organic transistors fabricated in both coplanar and staggered device architectures on flexible plastic substrates. We show through S-parameter measurements that coplanar transistors yield more ideal small-signal characteristics with only a weak dependence on the overlap asymmetry. In contrast, the high-frequency behavior of staggered transistors suffers from a more pronounced dependence on the asymmetry. Using our advanced compact model, we elucidate the factors influencing the frequency-dependent small-signal gain and find that even though coplanar transistors have larger capacitances than staggered transistors, they benefit from substantially larger transconductances, which is the main reason for their superior dynamic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed models for three different short-channel effects [subthreshold-swing degradation, threshold-voltage roll-off, and drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL)] in coplanar organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) and verified them against the measured current–voltage characteristics of TFTs having channel lengths as small as $0.5 \mu \text{m}$. To derive the models, the Schwarz–Christoffel transformation was applied to obtain a complex mapping function that links the coplanar device geometry to an equivalent geometry in a different coordinate system in order to solve Laplace’s equation of the 2-D potential problem. The solution to this potential problem serves as the basis for the definition of the short-channel models, which can be incorporated into any compact dc models for coplanar TFTs that use the TFTs’ threshold voltage and subthreshold swing as input parameters. To verify the model, the channel-length-dependent effects were extracted from technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations (transfer characteristics and surface-potential profile) and from measurements performed on organic p-channel TFTs fabricated using high-resolution stencil lithography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present analytical physics-based compact models for the Schottky barriers at the interfaces between the organic semiconductor and the source and drain contacts in organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated in the coplanar and the staggered device architecture, and we illustrate the effect of these Schottky barriers on the current–voltage characteristics of the TFTs. The model for the source barrier explicitly considers the field-dependent barrier lowering due to image charges. Potential solutions have been derived by applying the Schwarz–Christoffel transformation, leading to expressions for the electric field at the source barrier and for the contact resistance at the source contact. With regard to the drain barrier, a generic compact-modeling scheme based on the current–voltage characteristics of a barrier-less TFT is introduced that can be applied to any compact dc model. Finally, both models are incorporated into an existing charge-based compact dc model and verified against the results of measurements performed on coplanar and staggered organic TFTs with channel lengths ranging from 0.5 to $10.5~\mu \text{m}$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces analytical compact models of short-channel effects in staggered organic thin-film transistors (TFTs). The effects of subthreshold-swing degradation, threshold-voltage roll-off, and drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL) on the static current-voltage characteristics of staggered TFTs are extracted from an analytical potential solution of the 2-D problem of the staggered geometry. This solution is derived by using the Schwarz–Christoffel transformation that leads to a complex mapping function linking the staggered geometry to an equivalent in another coordinate system for which an analytical potential solution exists. The technology CAD (TCAD) Software Sentaurus is used to verify the compact models. Finally, the closed-form and physics-based equations are incorporated into an existing compact current model and verified by measurements on staggered organic TFTs with channel lengths as small as 0.4 μm fabricated on flexible plastic substrates by stencil lithography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A charge-based macromodel for small-signal ac and transient analyses of organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) is presented. Due to the comparatively small charge-carrier mobility in organic TFTs, the dynamic behavior of the gate-field-induced carrier channel is greatly affected by the frequency of the applied gate–source and drain–source voltages. The model presented here is, therefore, based on the transmission-line model and shown to reproduce the results of frequency-dependent admittance measurements and numerical simulations of the transient switching behavior of organic TFTs fabricated in the staggered architecture with good accuracy. The model has been implemented in the hardware description language Verilog-A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a consistent analytical charge-based model for the bias-dependent variability of the drain current of organic thin-film transistors is presented. The proposed model combines both charge-carrier-number-fluctuation effects and correlated-mobility-fluctuation effects to predict the drain-current variation and is verified using experimental data acquired from a statistical population of organic transistors with various channel dimensions, fabricated on flexible polymeric substrates in the coplanar or the staggered device architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]