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Hybrid integration of n‐type oxide with p‐type polymer transistors is an attractive approach for realizing high performance complementary circuits on flexible substrates. However, the stability of solution‐processed oxide transistors is limiting the lifetime and reliability of such circuits. Oxygen vacancies are the main defect degrading metal oxide transistor performance when ambient oxygen adsorbs onto metal oxide films. Here, an effective surface passivation treatment based on negative oxygen ion exposure combined with UV light is demonstrated, that is able to significantly reduce surface oxygen vacancy concentration and improve the field effect mobility to values up to 41 cm2 V−1 s−1 with high on–off current ratio of 108. The treatment also reduces the threshold voltage shift after 2 days in air from 5 to 0.07 V. The improved stability of the oxide transistors also improves the lifetime of hybrid complementary circuits and stable operation of complementary, analog amplifiers is confirmed for 60 days in air. The suggested approach is facile and can be widely applicable for flexible electronics using low‐temperature solution‐processed metal oxide semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cornerstones of emerging high-performance organic photovoltaic devices are bulk heterojunctions, which usually contain both structure disorders and bicontinuous interpenetrating grain boundaries with interfacial defects. This feature complicates fundamental understanding of their working mechanism. Highly-ordered crystalline organic p–n heterojunctions with well-defined interface and tailored layer thickness, are highly desirable to understand the nature of organic heterojunctions. However, direct growth of such a crystalline organic p–n heterojunction remains a huge challenge. In this work, we report a design rationale to fabricate monolayer molecular crystals based p–n heterojunctions. In an organic field-effect transistor configuration, we achieved a well-balanced ambipolar charge transport, comparable to single component monolayer molecular crystals devices, demonstrating the high-quality interface in the heterojunctions. In an organic solar cell device based on the p–n junction, we show the device exhibits gate-tunable open-circuit voltage up to 1.04 V, a record-high value in organic single crystalline photovoltaics. Realizing organic p–n junctions based on ordered crystalline materials with dimensions comparable to the exciton diffusion length of most organic semiconductors remains a challenge. Here, the authors report a strategy to form molecular monolayer crystal-based p–n junctions with thickness below 5 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using the optical second harmonic generation (SHG) measurement, we directly visualized the carrier behavior leading to carrier recombination and electroluminescence (EL) in ambipolar polymer-based organic light-emitting transistor (OLET) with an active layer of poly 9,9-di-n-octylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiszole (F8BT). Eliminating photoluminescence generated at 560 nm by a two-photon absorption process, the dynamical carrier motion in the F8BT-OLET was visualized by the electric field induced SHG induced at 420 nm. Diffusion-like electron transport that starts from the drain electrode was directly caught as the transits of the SHG images. Accordingly, EL was obtained at the edge of the source electrode. The electron mobility was estimated from the visualized carrier motion as 9.2×10-4cm2/Vs, which was larger than that obtained from the transfer curve of the OLET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal nanorods of inorganic semiconductors are of interest for a range of optoelectronic devices. The ability to self-assemble these materials into ordered arrays by solution-processing techniques is crucial for achieving adequate device performance. Here we show that uniform ZnO nanorod films with defined nanorod alignment can be solution-deposited over large areas by controlling the surface energy of the nanorods through the choice of suitable ligands and by the fluid flow direction during growth. ZnO nanorods with long carbon chain ligands exhibit a smaller surface free energy than those with short carbon chain ligands resulting in better in-plane alignment and large domain sizes up to dozens of micrometers in spin-coated films. A model is presented to rationalize the observed self-assembly behavior. It is based on the formation of a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase on the surface of the liquid film which is facilitated by enhanced segregation of nanorods with low surface tension to the surface. Alignment of the nanorods is controlled by radial and vertical liquid flows in the drying solution. The ability to control the orientation of the nanorods and to achieve large domain size results in significant device performance improvement. Field-effect transistors with mobilities of up to 1.2–1.4 cm²N·s are demonstrated in spin-coated, in-plane aligned ZnO nanorod films subject to postdeposition hydrothermal growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of morphology and microstructure on the emission characteristics of ambipolar light-emitting field-effect transistors is studied using the polyfluorene copolymer F8BT [poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole)] as a model system. Different intensity distributions of the emission zones of amorphous, polycrystalline, and aligned F8BT films are demonstrated. Electroluminescence maps of the channel region are produced by overlaying a series of images recorded during gate voltage sweeps. They show a correlation to the microcrystalline structure of the F8BT and are assumed to visualize the current density distribution within the transistor channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the dependence of bias-stress induced degradation in organic field-effect transistors on the device configuration. We show that separation of contact and channel effects is essential for understanding bias-stress instabilities. In coplanar device configurations, an increase in source contact resistance during current flow is primarily responsible for a rapid device degradation. In contrast, in staggered device configurations, the significantly slower reduction in current is primarily due to charge trapping in the channel leading to an increase in threshold voltage, while the contacts themselves do not exhibit significant degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a thermal-crosslinkable siloxane bisbenzocyclobutene, high quality spin-on (solutionprocessable) gate dielectric layers as thin as 50 nm have been fabricated over the semiconductor layer for polymer field-effect transistors. This was demonstrated on a poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene-alt-triarylamine) as p-channel semiconductor, with a surfactantion-exchanged poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrenesulfonate complex as top-gate electrode. The devices operate at a low voltage with a field-effect mobility of few 10-4 cm2/Vs, and can be continuously operated at 120 °C. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In article number 1801189, Chuan Liu and co‐workers present hydrogen doped IGZO thin‐film transistors induced by simple SINX encapsulation which exhibits substantially enhanced current and stability. Combing photoelectron spectroscopy, potential mapping and simulation, the nonuniform carrier distribution is revealed as the cause for the ultra‐high current and apparent device mobility, which is 40 times higher than the carrier mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For newly developed semiconductors, obtaining high‐performance transistors and identifying carrier mobility have been hot and important issues. Here, large‐area fabrications and thorough analysis of InGaZnO transistors with enhanced current by simple encapsulations are reported. The enhancement in the drain current and on–off ratio is remarkable in the long‐channel devices (e.g., 40 times in 200 µm long transistors) but becomes much less pronounced in short‐channel devices (e.g., 2 times in 5 µm long transistors), which limits its application to the display industry. Combining gated four‐probe measurements, scanning Kelvin‐probe microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and device simulations, it is revealed that the enhanced apparent mobility up to several tens of times is attributed to the stabilized hydrogens in the middle area forming a degenerated channel area while that near the source‐drain contacts are merely doped, which causes artifact in mobility extraction. The studies demonstrate the use of hydrogens to remarkably enhance performance of oxide transistors by inducing a new mode of device operation. Also, this study shows clearly that a thorough analysis is necessary to understand the origin of very high apparent mobilities in thin‐film transistors or field‐effect transistors with advanced semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research that has produced a polymer material that allows for n-type transistors that will allow for the production of printed complementary circuits that have a previously unrecognized rate of performance. This type of transistor, which is a semiconductor electronic switch utilized in any integrated circuit, utilizes organic molecules and polymers that can be processed from solution. This larger field is referred to as organic electronics. The polymer evaluated is highly soluble in organic solvents and is compatible with inkjet, flexographic and gravure printing.

We have developed a novel solution-based integration scheme featuring organic and metal-oxide semiconductors with a polymeric gate dielectric. The integration relies on a facile subtractive patterning technique for the semiconductors, which, through the selection of an appropriate etch stopper, leads to ideal transistor performance. We utilized this novel integration scheme to fabricate self-aligned transistors and logic circuits with a high-mobility p-type conjugated polymer and an n-type amorphous oxide semiconductor, along with a composite polymeric gate dielectric, all solution-deposited by spin coating. The resulting complementary logic gates are capable of rail-to-rail transitions, low-voltage operation down to a 3.5 V power supply, and ample noise margins. Thanks to the self-aligned-gate approach and the state-of-the-art balanced mobilities of the selected semiconductors, our logic gates achieve megahertz operation, thus demonstrating the strength of our hybrid integration scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]