Polymer dielectric layer functionality in organic field-effect transistor based ammonia gas sensor

Ammonia (NH₃) gas sensors based on pentacene organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are fabricated using polymers as the dielectric. Compared with those incorporating poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(4-vinylphenol) or poly(methyl methacrylate) dielectric, a low detect limitation of 1 ppm and enhanced recovery property are obtained for OFETs with polystyrene (PS) as gate dielectric. By analyzing the morphologies of pentacene and electrical characteristics of the OFETs under various concentrations of NH₃, the variations of the sensing properties of different dielectrics based OFET-sensors are proved to be mainly caused by the diversities of dielectric/pentacene interfacial properties. Furthermore, low surface trap density and the absence of polar groups in PS dielectric are ascribed to be responsible for the high performance of NH₃ sensors.     

THz wave sensing for petroleum industrial applications

We present the results of terahertz (THz) sensing of gasoline products. The frequency-dependent absorption coefficients, refractive indices, and complex dielectric constants of gasoline and xylene isomers were extracted in the spectral range from 0.5–3.0 THz. The THz spectra of gasoline (#87, #89, #93) and related BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) compounds were studied by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the 1.5–20 THz (50–660 cm^?1). The xylene isomers, which are used as antiknock agent in gasoline were determined quantitatively in gasoline in the THz range. Our investigations show the potential of THz technology for the petroleum industrial applications.     

Employing microspectroscopy to track charge trapping in operating pentacene OFETs

Ultrathin pentacene films resemble benchmark and model materials for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). We employ scanning transmission X-ray microspectroscopy (STXM) and confocal Raman microspectroscopy as highly resolving probes to obtain insight into the correlation of morphology and charge transport in pentacene OFETs. By combining the operation-induced intensity increase in Raman-active bands with micromorphology, we are able to visualize charge-induced effects, in particular charge trapping in pentacene OFETs during operation. The high sensitivity and specificity of Raman microscopy allows to distinguish between orientation and charge-induced effects and thus to locate the trapped charges at grain boundaries.     

Bipolar charge transport in organic field-effect transistors: Enabling high mobilities and transport of photo-generated charge carriers by a molecular passivation layer

High mobility bipolar charge carrier transport in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) can be enabled by a molecular passivation layer and selective electrode materials. Using tetratetracontane as passivation layer bipolar transport was realised in the organic semiconductors copper-phthalocyanine, diindenoperylene, pentacene, TIPS-pentacene and sexithiophene and mobilities of up to 0.1 cm²/V s were achieved for both electrons and holes. Furthermore, the trap and injection behaviour was analysed leading to a more general understanding of the transport levels of the used molecular semiconductors and their limitations for electron and hole transport in OFETs. With this knowledge the transistor operation can be further improved by applying two different electrode materials and a light-emitting transistor was demonstrated.Additionally, the effect of illumination on organic field-effect transistors was investigated for unipolar and bipolar devices. We find that the behaviour of photo-excited electrons and holes depends on the interface between the insulator and the semiconductor and the choice of contact materials. Whereas filling of electron traps by photo-generated charges and the related accumulation field are the reason for changes in charge carrier transport upon illumination without passivation layer, both types of charge carriers can be transported also in unipolar OFETs, if a passivation layer is present.     

The origins in the transformation of ambipolar to n-type pentacene-based organic field-effect transistors

With aluminum (Al) source–drain electrodes, the transfer characteristics of pentacene-based organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) change from ambipolar to n-type after 24 h of storage in a nitrogen-filled glove box Chang et al. (2011) [16]. The time-dependent decrease of hole current is associated with the interfacial reaction at the Al source–drain electrodes and pentacene, which was studied by in-situ ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in this work. Experimental results indicate that the interface of the Al and pentacene is partially oxidized, but the similar oxidation was not observed at the interface of the pentacene and silver. The time-dependent oxidization of Al and pentacene creates an interfacial barrier to suppress the hole injection from Al electrodes (extraction of electrons from pentacene). However, it shows minor effect in the injection of electrons from Al electrode. Since the rate of oxidation is related to the contact area of the pentacene and Al, co-evaporating a thin Al:pentacene interlayer between the pentacene and Al electrodes expands the contact surface and accelerates the reaction, which is suitable for the fabrication of n-type only pentacene-based OFETs. This study highlights the impact of the interfacial reaction in Al/pentacene interface for the transformation of ambipolar to n-type OFETs.     

Reducing the contact resistance in organic thin-film transistors by introducing a PEDOT:PSS hole-injection layer

We coated gold electrodes with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) in order to reduce the contact resistance in pentacene organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The crystallinity of the pentacene layers on the gold electrodes was found to increase upon coating the substrates with PEDOT:PSS, whereas the hole-injection barrier between the organic semiconductor and the metal electrode decreased from 0.85 to 0.14 eV. The increased crystallinity and reduced hole-injection barrier resulted in a significant reduction of the contact resistance in the pentacene OFETs, thus leading to an improvement of the field-effect mobility of the devices (from 0.031 to 0.218 cm²/Vs).     

Radical polymers improve the metal-semiconductor interface in organic field-effect transistors

Modifying the organic-metal interface in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) is a critical means by which to improve device performance; however, to date, all of the interfacial modifying layers utilized in these systems have been closed-shell in nature. Here, we introduce open-shell oxidation-reduction-active (redox-active) macromolecules, namely radical polymers, in order to serve as interfacial modifiers in pentacene-based OFETs. Through careful selection of the chemistry of the specific radical polymer, poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl methacrylate) (PTMA), the charge transport energy level of the interfacial modifying layer was tuned to provide facile charge injection and extraction between the pentacene active layer and the gold source and drain electrodes of the OFET. The inclusion of this radical polymer interlayer, which was deposited in through straightforward inkjet printing, led to bottom-contact, bottom-gate OFETs with significantly increased mobility and ON/OFF current ratios relative to OFETs without the PTMA interlayer. The underlying mechanism for this improvement in device performance is explained in terms of the charge transport capability at the organic-metal interface and with respect to the pentacene grain growth on the radical polymer. Thus, this effort presents a new, open-shell-based class of materials for interfacial modifying materials, and describes the underlying physics behind the practical operation of these materials.     

并五苯钝化层增强C60有机场效应晶体管性能的研究

We investigated the properties of C₆₀-based organic field-enect transistors（OFETs）（?） a pentacene passivation layer inserted between the C₆₀ active layer and the gate dielectric.After modification of the pentacene passivation layer,the performance of the devices was considerably improved compared to C₆₀-based OFETs with only a PMMA dielectric.The peak field-effect mobility was up to 1.01 cm²/（V·s） and the on/off ratio shifted to 10⁴.This result indicates that using a pentacene passivation layer is an effective way to improve the performance of N-type OFETs.     

Low‐Voltage,High‐Performance Organic Field‐Effect Transistors with an Ultra‐Thin TiO2 Layer as Gate Insulator

We report on our latest improvements in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) using ultra‐thin anodized gate insulators. Anodization of titanium (Ti) is an extremely cheap and simple technique to obtain high‐quality, very thin (～ 7.5 nm), pinhole‐free, and robust gate insulators for OFETs. The anodized insulators have been tested in transistors using pentacene and poly(triarylamine) (PTAA) as active layers. The fabricated devices display low‐threshold, normally “off” OFETs with negligible hysteresis, good carrier mobility, high gate capacitance, and exceptionally low inverse subthreshold slope. Device performance is improved via chemical modification of TiO₂ with an octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) self‐assembled monolayer (SAM). As the result of this combination of favorable properties, we have demonstrated OFETs that can be operated with voltages well below 1 V.     

Contact Doping for Vertical Organic Field‐Effect Transistors

Doping is a powerful tool to overcome contact limitations in short‐channel organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) and has been successfully used in the past to improve the charge carrier injection in OFETs. The present study applies this familiar concept to the architecture of vertical organic field‐effect transistors (VOFETs), which are often severely limited by injection due to their very short channel lengths. The present study shows that the performance of p‐type VOFETs with pentacene as an active material can be significantly enhanced by the addition of the common p‐dopant C₆₀F₃₆ as a thin injection layer underneath the VOFET source electrode, resulting in an increase of On‐state current and On/Off ratio by one order of magnitude. The present study further investigates mixed injection layers of pentacene and the p‐dopant and finds that the improvement is less pronounced than for the pure dopant layers and depends on the concentration of dopant molecules in the injection layer. Through application of the transfer length method to equivalent OFET geometries, the present study is finally able to link the observed improvement to a decrease in transfer length and can thus conclude that this length is a crucial parameter onto which further improvement efforts have to be concentrated to realize true short‐channel VOFETs.     

A new photonic crystal fiber gas sensor based on evanescent wave in terahertz wave band: design and simulation

In this paper, we present the design of a new photonic crystal fiber （PCF） gas sensor for evanescent-field sensing in terahertz （THz） wave band. This sensor can be used to identify the gas, and its size is very large, so that it is beneficial to fill it with the test substance. Based on simulation, we demonstrate that the gas sensor using PCFs with four noncir- cular large holes in the cladding has high sensitivity and low loss, the confinement loss is less than 0.007 dB/m, and the bending loss is very small. The new PCF gas sensor can detect kinds of gases, for example, if test gas is water va- por, it has obvious absorption peaks in THz band, and the sensitivities of gas sensor are 64% and 73% at 1.097 THz and 0.752 THz, respectively. Due to the ultra-low loss and high sensitivity of the model, the novel steering-wheel structured fiber is very suitable for evanescent-field sensing and the detection of chemical and biological products.     

THz Detection of Biomolecules in Aqueous Environments—Status and Perspectives for Analysis Under Physiological Conditions and Clinical use

Bioanalytical THz sensing techniques have proven to be an interesting and viable tool for the label-free detection and analysis of biomolecules. However, a major challenge for THz bioanalytics is to perform investigations in the native aqueous environments of the analytes. This review recapitulates the status and future requirements for establishing THz biosensing as a complementary toolbox in the repertoire of standard bioanalytic methods. The potential use in medical research and clinical diagnosis is discussed. Under these considerations, this article presents a comprehensive categorization of biochemically relevant analytes that have been investigated by THz sensing techniques in aqueous media. The detectable concentration levels of ions, carbohydrates, (poly-)nucleotides, active agents, proteins and different biomacromolecules from THz experiments are compared to characteristic physiological concentrations and lower detection limits of state-of-the-art bioanalytical methods. Finally, recent experimental developments and achievements are discussed, which potentially pave the way for THz analysis of biomolecules under clinically relevant conditions.

     

Performance comparison of pentacene organic field-effect transistors with SiO2 modified with octyltrichlorosilane or octadecyltrichlorosilane

Performance of pentacene organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) is significantly improved by treatment of SiO₂ with octyltrichlorosilane (OTS-8) compared to octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS-18). The average hole mobility in these OFETs is increased from 0.4 to 0.8 cm²/Vs when treating the dielectric with OTS-8 versus OTS-18 treated devices. The atomic force microscope (AFM) images show that the OTS-8 treated surface produces much larger grains of pentacene (∼500 nm) compared to OTS-18 (∼100 nm). X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed that the pentacene on OTS-8 is more crystalline compared to the pentacene on OTS-18, resulting in higher hole mobility.     

Materials and interfaces issues in pentacene/PTCDI-C8 ambipolar organic field-effect transistors with solution-based gelatin dielectric

Gelatin is a natural protein, which works well as the gate dielectric for pentacene/N,N-dioctyl-3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI-C₈) ambipolar organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) in air ambient and in vacuum. An aqueous solution process was used to form the gelatin gate dielectric film on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) by spin-coating and subsequent casting. Pentacene morphology and interface roughness are two major factors affecting the electron and hole field-effect mobility (μ_FE) values of pentacene/PTCDI-C₈ ambipolar OFETs in vacuum and in air ambient. In contrast, water absorption in gelatin has higher contribution to the electron and hole μ_FE values in air ambient. The ambipolar performance of pentacene/PTCDI-C₈ ambipolar OFETs depends on their layer sequence. For example, when PTCDI-C₈ is deposited onto pentacene, i.e. in the structure of PTCDI-C₈/pentacene, unbalanced ambipolar characteristics appear. In contrast, better ambipolar performance occurs in the structure of pentacene/PTCDI-C₈. The optimum ambipolar characteristics with electron μ_FE of 0.85 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and hole μ_FE of 0.95 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ occurs at the condition of pentacene (40 nm)/PTCDI-C₈ (40 nm). Surprisingly, water absorption plays a crucial role in ambipolar performance. The device performance changes tremendously in pentacene/PTCDI-C₈ ambipolar OFETs due to the removal of water out of gelatin in vacuum. The optimum ambipolar characteristics with electron μ_FE of 0.008 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and hole μ_FE of 0.007 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ occurs at the condition of pentacene (65 nm)/PTCDI-C₈ (40 nm). The roles of layer sequence, relative layer thickness, and water absorption are proposed to explain the ambipolar performance.     

面向生化样品的太赫兹偏振传感研究进展

太赫兹(Terahertz,THz)波具有相干性好、信噪比高、辐射能量低等性质,在传感领域有着广泛应用。此外,THz传感还具有实时、非接触、无标记、非电离等优点,在生化传感特别是生物活性物质的传感中有着重要应用。但THz传感也存在着灵敏度低、水的吸收强、检测信息有限、适用性差等缺陷。介绍在THz时域偏振光谱传感技术方面的系列工作,采用微结构器件作为传感器,使用透射或反射传感方法分别检测了细胞、氨基酸和脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)几种生化样品。实验结果表明：与传统的谐振传感方法相比,偏振传感方法的品质因数和传感灵敏度均有着显著提高;反射式传感有效避免了水对THz的吸收,实现了液体环境下活性生化样品的传感;使用具有手性的微结构器件作为传感器,或利用手性THz波作为激发场,可以增强样品的偏振响应,提高传感灵敏度,实现手性分子的传感。     

Micro-scale twistable organic field effect transistors and complementary inverters fabricated by orthogonal photolithography on flexible polyimide substrate

We fabricated micro-scale organic field effect transistors (OFETs) and complementary inverters on a twistable polyimide (PI) substrate by applying orthogonal photolithography. By applying a highly fluorinated photoresist and development solvent, it becomes possible to create organic electronic devices with a micro-scale channel length without damaging the underlying polymer films. The 3 μm-channel twistable pentacene OFET devices and complementary inverters created using p-type pentacene and n-type copper hexadecafluorophthalocyanine exhibited stable electrical characteristics from flat to twist configurations (angle of up to ∼50°). The realization of twistable micro-scale OFETs and inverter devices on a PI substrate may enable the production of functioning organic devices in practical, flexible configurations.     

Manipulating the Hysteresis in Poly(vinyl alcohol)‐Dielectric Organic Field‐Effect Transistors Toward Memory Elements

The origins of hysteresis in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) and its applications in organic memory devices is investigated. It is found that the orientations of the hydroxyl groups in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) gate dielectrics are correlated with the hysteresis of transfer characteristics in pentacene‐based OFETs under the forward and backward scan. The applied gate bias partially aligns the orientations of the hydroxyl groups perpendicular to the substrate as characterized by reflective absorption Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (RA‐FTIR), in which the field‐induced surface dipoles at the pentacene/PVA interface trap charges and cause the hysteresis. Treating PVA with an anhydrous solvent eliminates the residual moisture in the dielectrics layer, allowing for more effective control of the induced dipoles by the applied gate bias. OFETs of dehydrated‐PVA dielectrics present a pronounced shift of the threshold voltage (ΔV_Th) of 35.7 V in transfer characteristics, higher than that of 18.5 V for untreated devices and results in sufficient dynamic response for applications in memory elements. This work highlights the usage of non‐ferroelectric gate dielectrics to fabricate OFET memory elements by manipulating the molecular orientations in the dielectrics layer.     

实时太赫兹探测与成像技术新进展

图像获取速率和空间分辨率一直是面向应用型太赫兹成像所要解决的关键问题。针对这一问题,学者们基于合成孔径雷达(SAR)成像技术、电磁干涉与压缩感知(CS)等理论,提出了太赫兹合成孔径成像、太赫兹干涉成像和太赫兹压缩感知成像技术,它们在成像速度和空间分辨率等方面具有良好的发展潜力。综述了上述三种方法,总结概括其各自的技术优势以及新近的研究进展。展望了太赫兹成像技术在军事、公共安全领域以及无损探伤等领域的应用前景。     

Insight into the charge transport and degradation mechanisms in organic transistors operating at elevated temperatures in air

Operational stability of organic devices at above-room-temperatures in ambient environment is of imminent practical importance. In this report, we have investigated the charge transport and degradation mechanisms in pentacene based organic field effect transistors (OFETs) operating in the temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 150 °C under ambient conditions. The thin film characterizations techniques (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy) were used to establish the structural and chemical stability of pentacene thin films at temperatures up to 150 °C in ambient conditions. The electrical behavior of OFETs varies differently in different temperature bracket. Mobility, at temperatures below 110 °C, is found to be thermally activated in presence of traps and temperature independent in absence of traps. At temperatures above 110 °C mobility degrades due to polymorphism in pentacene or interfacial properties. The degradation of mobility is compensated with the decrease in threshold voltage at high temperatures and OFETs are operational at temperatures as high as 190 °C. 70 °C has been identified as the optimum temperature of operation for our OFETs where both device behavior and material properties are stable enough to ensure sustainable performance.     

Double-Layer Frequency Selective Surface for Terahertz Bandpass Filter

A thin, low-cost, double-layer frequency-selective surface (FSS) bandpass filter has been designed, fabricated, and measured for operation in the terahertz band. The present FSS structure is composed of double-layer tin foil with a hexagonal lattice array of circular holes. A flat passband is observed with a 3-dB bandwidth of 0.20 THz from 0.81 to 1.01 THz, which is about 22% relative to the center frequency. This bandpass filter based on double-layer FSS structures achieved average insertion loss of 0.7-dB and 106.31-dB/THz band-edge steepness. We have found good agreement between theoretical calculations and experimental results.