Low-Power Organic Light Sensor Array Based on Active-Matrix Common-Gate Transimpedance Amplifier on Foil for Imaging Applications

This article presents a 57.6-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mechanically flexible active-matrix imaging system based on a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4\times 5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> array of light sensors, each composed of a photodetector (PD) using a light-sensitive organic polymer and a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) based on organic thin-film transistors and integrated thin-film carbon resistors. The PDs and the electronics are fabricated on separate plastic films and integrated into a system. Two different topologies for the TIA are designed, implemented, and characterized. The first topology is a self-biased TIA based on a gain-boosted operational amplifier (op-amp), providing an open-loop dc gain of 41.3 dB. This op-amp-based TIA, with a feedback resistor, provides stable current-to-voltage conversion (0–100 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 2.0–3.7 V) at frequencies up to 300 Hz. The second topology is a low-power gain-boosted common-gate (GB CG) TIA that performs current-to-voltage conversion with a nonlinearity as small as ±0.3% within a bandwidth of 1 kHz. The output voltages of the light sensors are read and converted into a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4\times 5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> pixel gray-scale image displayed on a computer monitor to visualize the functionality of the system.

[1]  Egidio Ragonese,et al.  Ambient Light Organic Sensor in a Printed Complementary Organic TFT Technology on Flexible Plastic Foil , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[2]  E. Cantatore,et al.  Organic CMOS Line Drivers on Foil , 2015, Journal of Display Technology.

[3]  Michael Kiy,et al.  Optical proximity and touch sensors based on monolithically integrated polymer photodiodes and polymer LEDs , 2006 .

[4]  Sigurd Wagner,et al.  16.4 A flexible EEG acquisition and biomarker extraction system based on thin-film electronics , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC).

[5]  H. Klauk,et al.  Unipolar sequential circuits based on individual-carbon-nanotube transistors and thin-film carbon resistors. , 2011, ACS nano.

[6]  S. Mudanai,et al.  22FFL: A high performance and ultra low power FinFET technology for mobile and RF applications , 2017, 2017 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM).

[7]  Arthur H. M. van Roermund,et al.  Analogue Frontend Amplifiers for Bio-Potential Measurements Manufactured With a-IGZO TFTs on Flexible Substrate , 2017, IEEE Journal on Emerging and Selected Topics in Circuits and Systems.

[8]  Wim Dehaene,et al.  16.5 A flexible thin-film pixel array with a charge-to-current gain of 59µA/pC and 0.33% nonlinearity and a cost effective readout circuit for large-area X-ray imaging , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC).

[9]  Vladimir Dyakonov,et al.  Polymer–fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells , 2010, 1003.0359.

[10]  Peter Seitz,et al.  High sensitivity organic photodiodes with low dark currents and increased lifetimes , 2008 .

[11]  B. Ju,et al.  The Emission Properties of Integrated Organic Light Emitting Diodes With Organic Photo Sensor for Emotional Lighting Applications , 2011, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[12]  Benjamin C. K. Tee,et al.  Highly sensitive flexible pressure sensors with microstructured rubber dielectric layers. , 2010, Nature materials.

[13]  Shijun Jia,et al.  Polymer–Fullerene Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells , 2009, Advanced materials.

[14]  M. Takamiya,et al.  Sheet-Type Flexible Organic Active Matrix Amplifier System Using Pseudo-CMOS Circuits With Floating-Gate Structure , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[15]  Lei Zhou,et al.  A New High-Gain Operational Amplifier Using Transconductance-Enhancement Topology Integrated With Metal Oxide TFTs , 2019, IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society.

[16]  S. Wagner,et al.  Amorphous silicon thin-film transistors with field-effect mobilities of 2 cm2/V s for electrons and 0.1 cm2/V s for holes , 2009 .

[17]  Carmen Bartic,et al.  Organic thin-film transistors as transducers for (bio) analytical applications , 2005, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[18]  H. Klauk.  Roadmap to gigahertz organic transistors , 2020 .

[19]  Yiannos Manoli,et al.  A 1.6μW tunable organic transimpedance amplifier for photodetector applications based on gain-boosted common-gate input stage and voltage-controlled resistor with ±0.5% nonlinearity , 2017, ESSCIRC 2017 - 43rd IEEE European Solid State Circuits Conference.

[20]  Juin J. Liou,et al.  RF transistors: Recent developments and roadmap toward terahertz applications , 2007 .

[21]  Takao Someya,et al.  A large-area, flexible pressure sensor matrix with organic field-effect transistors for artificial skin applications. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[22]  R. A. Street,et al.  Flexible X-Ray Detector Array Fabricated With Oxide Thin-Film Transistors , 2012, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[23]  H. Klauk,et al.  Detailed analysis and contact properties of low-voltage organic thin-film transistors based on dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT) and its didecyl and diphenyl derivatives , 2016 .

[24]  T. Matsumoto,et al.  1.5-V-Operation Ultralow Power Circuit of Poly-Si TFTs Fabricated Using the NAOS Method , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[25]  Sigurd Wagner,et al.  Self-Aligned Amorphous Silicon Thin-Film Transistors Fabricated on Clear Plastic at 300 $^{\circ}\hbox{C}$ , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[26]  Ming-Chi Tai,et al.  Flexible low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors , 2020 .

[27]  S. Albrecht,et al.  Impact of charge transport on current–voltage characteristics and power-conversion efficiency of organic solar cells , 2015, Nature communications.

[28]  T. Okamoto,et al.  High‐Speed Organic Single‐Crystal Transistor Responding to Very High Frequency Band , 2020, Advanced Functional Materials.

[29]  Paddy K. L. Chan,et al.  High performance organic transistor active-matrix driver developed on paper substrate , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[30]  Arokia Nathan,et al.  Amorphous silicon active pixel sensor readout circuit for digital imaging , 2003 .

[31]  Yiannos Manoli,et al.  Stable, Self-Biased and High-Gain Organic Amplifiers with Reduced Parameter Variation Effect , 2018, 2018 IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference (A-SSCC).

[32]  Luisa Petti,et al.  Flexible Self-Aligned Amorphous InGaZnO Thin-Film Transistors With Submicrometer Channel Length and a Transit Frequency of 135 MHz , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[33]  Jin-Oh Kwag,et al.  5.8‐inch QHD flexible AMOLED display with enhanced bendability of LTPS TFTs , 2018 .

[34]  Magda Osman,et al.  Control Systems Engineering , 2010 .

[35]  S. Thalhammer,et al.  Toward Cheap Disposable Sensing Devices for Biological Assays , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology.

[36]  Charles Sodini,et al.  An Organic Imager for Flexible Large Area Electronics , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers.

[37]  C. Herrmann,et al.  Counting and integrating readout for direct conversion X-ray imaging concept, realization and first prototype measurements , 2005, IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2005.

[38]  T. Watabe,et al.  Stacked Image Sensor With Green- and Red-Sensitive Organic Photoconductive Films Applying Zinc Oxide Thin-Film Transistors to a Signal Readout Circuit , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[39]  T. Someya,et al.  Integration of organic FETs with organic photodiodes for a large area, flexible, and lightweight sheet image scanners , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[40]  P. Lugli,et al.  Active Pixel Concept Combined With Organic Photodiode for Imaging Devices , 2007, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[41]  S. Takagi,et al.  On the universality of inversion layer mobility in Si MOSFET's: Part I-effects of substrate impurity concentration , 1994 .

[42]  Joachim N. Burghartz,et al.  A 3.3 V 6-Bit 100 kS/s Current-Steering Digital-to-Analog Converter Using Organic P-Type Thin-Film Transistors on Glass , 2012, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[43]  H. Klauk,et al.  Compact DC Modeling of Organic Thin-Film Transistors Including Their Parasitic Non-Linear Contact Effects Based on a Novel Extraction Method , 2019, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[44]  Joachim N. Burghartz,et al.  A digital library for a flexible low-voltage organic thin-film transistor technology , 2017 .

[45]  Joachim N. Burghartz,et al.  Flexible low-voltage organic phototransistors based on air-stable dinaphtho[2,3-b:2′,3′-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT) , 2015 .