Printed, Flexible, Organic Nano‐Floating‐Gate Memory: Effects of Metal Nanoparticles and Blocking Dielectrics on Memory Characteristics

The effects of using a blocking dielectric layer and metal nanoparticles (NPs) as charge-trapping sites on the characteristics of organic nano-floating-gate memory (NFGM) devices are investigated. High-performance NFGM devices are fabricated using the n-type polymer semiconductor, poly{[N,N′-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5′-(2,2′-bithiophene)} (P(NDI2OD-T2)), and various metal NPs. These NPs are embedded within bilayers of various polymer dielectrics (polystyrene (PS)/poly(4-vinyl phenol) (PVP) and PS/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)). The P(NDI2OD-T2) organic field-effect transistor (OFET)-based NFGM devices exhibit high electron mobilities (0.4–0.5 cm2 V−1 s−1) and reliable non-volatile memory characteristics, which include a wide memory window (≈52 V), a high on/off-current ratio (Ion/Ioff ≈ 105), and a long extrapolated retention time (>107 s), depending on the choice of the blocking dielectric (PVP or PMMA) and the metal (Au, Ag, Cu, or Al) NPs. The best memory characteristics are achieved in the ones fabricated using PMMA and Au or Ag NPs. The NFGM devices with PMMA and spatially well-distributed Cu NPs show quasi-permanent retention characteristics. An inkjet-printed flexible P(NDI2OD-T2) 256-bit transistor memory array (16 × 16 transistors) with Au-NPs on a polyethylene naphthalate substrate is also fabricated. These memory devices in array exhibit a high Ion/Ioff (≈104 ± 0.85), wide memory window (≈43.5 V ± 8.3 V), and a high degree of reliability.

[1]  Henning Sirringhaus,et al.  Analysis of the contact resistance in staggered, top-gate organic field-effect transistors , 2007 .

[2]  S. Bauer,et al.  Organic Nonvolatile Memory Transistors for Flexible Sensor Arrays , 2009, Science.

[3]  U. Jeng,et al.  The Effect of Nanoscale Confinement on the Collective Electron Transport Behavior in Au Nanoparticles Self‐Assembled in a Nanostructured Polystyrene‐block‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) Diblock Copolymer Ultra‐thin Film , 2007 .

[4]  G. Pei,et al.  Metal nanocrystal memories. I. Device design and fabrication , 2002 .

[5]  Jang‐Sik Lee.  Recent progress in gold nanoparticle-based non-volatile memory devices , 2010 .

[6]  Yong‐Young Noh,et al.  Organic Nano-Floating-Gate Memory with Polymer:[6,6]-Phenyl-C61 Butyric Acid Methyl Ester Composite Films , 2010 .

[7]  Koon Gee Neoh,et al.  Polymer electronic memories: Materials, devices and mechanisms , 2008 .

[8]  H. Sirringhaus,et al.  A gate dielectric that enables high ambipolar mobilities in polymer light-emitting field-effect transistors , 2008 .

[9]  M. Kaltenbrunner,et al.  Ultrathin and lightweight organic solar cells with high flexibility , 2012, Nature Communications.

[10]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  Remarkable Enhancement of Hole Transport in Top‐Gated N‐Type Polymer Field‐Effect Transistors by a High‐k Dielectric for Ambipolar Electronic Circuits , 2012, Advanced materials.

[11]  Stephen R. Forrest,et al.  The path to ubiquitous and low-cost organic electronic appliances on plastic , 2004, Nature.

[12]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  Polymer Dielectrics and Orthogonal Solvent Effects for High‐Performance Inkjet‐Printed Top‐Gated P‐Channel Polymer Field‐Effect Transistors , 2011 .

[13]  Patrick R. Brown,et al.  Detection of charge storage on molecular thin films of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) by Kelvin force microscopy: a candidate system for high storage capacity memory cells. , 2012, Nano letters.

[14]  A. Facchetti,et al.  A high-mobility electron-transporting polymer for printed transistors , 2009, Nature.

[15]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  Polarity Effects of Polymer Gate Electrets on Non‐Volatile Organic Field‐Effect Transistor Memory , 2008 .

[16]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  Downscaling of self-aligned, all-printed polymer thin-film transistors. , 2007, Nature nanotechnology.

[17]  Byungjin Cho,et al.  Direct Observation of Ag Filamentary Paths in Organic Resistive Memory Devices , 2011 .

[18]  Pooi See Lee,et al.  Copper nanoparticles embedded in a polyimide film for non-volatile memory applications , 2012 .

[19]  Tobin J Marks,et al.  High-k organic, inorganic, and hybrid dielectrics for low-voltage organic field-effect transistors. , 2010, Chemical reviews.

[20]  Ananth Dodabalapur,et al.  Non‐Volatile Organic Memory Applications Enabled by In Situ Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles in a Self‐Assembled Block Copolymer , 2008 .

[21]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  Controllable Shifts in Threshold Voltage of Top‐Gate Polymer Field‐Effect Transistors for Applications in Organic Nano Floating Gate Memory , 2010 .

[22]  Vellaisamy A. L. Roy,et al.  Nanoparticle size dependent threshold voltage shifts in organic memory transistors , 2011 .

[23]  Wei Lin Leong,et al.  Solution processed non-volatile top-gate polymer field-effect transistors , 2011 .

[24]  D. Tsoukalas,et al.  Recent advances in nanoparticle memories , 2005 .

[25]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  Effects of gate dielectrics and their solvents on characteristics of solution-processed N-channel polymer field-effect transistors , 2012 .

[26]  Yong-Young Noh,et al.  High‐Performance Top‐Gated Organic Field‐Effect Transistor Memory using Electrets for Monolithic Printed Flexible NAND Flash Memory , 2012 .

[27]  Maarten Debucquoy,et al.  Charge trapping in organic transistor memories: On the role of electrons and holes , 2009 .

[28]  C. Leung,et al.  Nonvolatile organic transistor-memory devices using various thicknesses of silver nanoparticle layers , 2010 .

[29]  K. Richter,et al.  Stability and growth behavior of transition metal nanoparticles in ionic liquids prepared by thermal evaporation: how stable are they really? , 2011, Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP.

[30]  Henning Sirringhaus,et al.  Efficient charge injection from a high work function metal in high mobility n-type polymer field-effect transistors , 2010 .

[31]  Shih-Cheng Chen,et al.  Developments in nanocrystal memory , 2011 .

[32]  Tae-Wook Kim,et al.  Reversible switching characteristics of polyfluorene-derivative single layer film for nonvolatile memory devices , 2008 .

[33]  A. Briseno,et al.  Additive-driven assembly of block copolymer-nanoparticle hybrid materials for solution processable floating gate memory. , 2012, ACS nano.

[34]  Ying Wang,et al.  High‐Performance Organic Field‐Effect Transistors with Low‐Cost Copper Electrodes , 2008 .

[35]  H. Sirringhaus,et al.  Very Low Degree of Energetic Disorder as the Origin of High Mobility in an n‐channel Polymer Semiconductor , 2011 .