Versatile model for the contact region of organic thin-film transistors

Please cite this article as: A. Romero, J. González, M.J. Deen, J.A. Jiménez-Tejada, Versatile model for the contact region of organic thin-film transistors, Organic Electronics, (2020), 77, 105523.Contact effects in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) remain an important problem to be solved in these devices. Therefore, the correct physio-chemical modeling of the contact regions in OTFTs is necessary. In this work, a standard model for the contact region of OTFTs is proposed. It is a versatile model that describes the current-voltage characteristics of different kinds of contacts. It reproduces the behavior of Schottky barrier or space-charge limited contacts. It is a simple unified model since only a single parameter is necessary in order to distinguish between both kinds of contacts. The model is easily integrated in a generic compact model for the current-voltage characteristics of OTFTs. The resulting compact model, used in combination with an evolutionary parameter extraction procedure, allows to extract the intrinsic parameters and the current-voltage curves at the contact of single short-channel transistors. There is no need to use transistors with multiple channel lengths to accurately characterize the contact region or the active channel of the transistor. The model is tested with published experimental data of OTFTs with Schottky barrier or space-charge limited contacts. Finally, the method has been used as a diagnostic tool to analyze how an ammonia sensor reacts to different concentrations of the ammonia gas. Interestingly, alterations in the contact region have been detected when the gas concentration varies, transforming the space-charge limited contact of a pristine OTFT into a Schottky barrier contact under the exposure of gas.This work was supported by projects MAT2016-76892-C3-3-R, TIN2015-67020-P and PGC2018-098813-B-C31 funded by the Spanish Government and “European Regional Development Funds (ERDF)”. This work was also supported by NSERC Green Electronics Network (GreEN), Grant Number NETGP 508526–17

Simultaneous Extraction of Density of States Width, Carrier Mobility and Injection Barriers in Organic Semiconductors

The predictive accuracy of state–of–the–art continuum models for charge transport in organic semiconductors is highly dependent on the accurate tuning of a set of parameters whose values cannot be effectively estimated either by direct measurements or by first principles. Fitting the complete set of model parameters at once to experimental data requires to set up extremely complex multi–objective optimization problems whose solution is, on the one hand, overwhelmingly computationally expensive and, on the other, it provides no guarantee of the physical soundness of the value obtained for each individual parameter. In the present study we present a step–by–step procedure that enables to determine the most relevant model parameters, namely the density of states width, the carrier mobility and the injection barrier height, by fitting experimental data from a sequence of relatively simple and inexpensive measurements to suitably devised numerical simulations. At each step of the proposed procedure only one parameter value is sought for, thus highly simplifying the numerical fitting and enhancing its robustness, reliability and accuracy. As a case study we consider a prototypical n-type organic polymer. A very satisfactory fitting of experimental measurements is obtained, and physically meaningful values for the aforementioned parameters are extracted

Indium-Gallium-Zinc Oxide Thin-Film Transistors for Active-Matrix Flat-Panel Displays

Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) including amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) areexpected to be used as the thin-film semiconducting materials for TFTs in the next-generation ultra-high definition (UHD) active-matrix flat-panel displays (AM-FPDs). a-IGZO TFTs satisfy almost all the requirements for organic light-emitting-diode displays (OLEDs), large and fast liquid crystal displays (LCDs) as well as three-dimensional (3D) displays, which cannot be satisfied using conventional amorphous silicon (a-Si) or polysilicon (poly-Si) TFTs. In particular, a-IGZO TFTs satisfy two significant requirements of the backplane technology: high field-effect mobility and large-area uniformity.In this work, a robust process for fabrication of bottom-gate and top-gate a-IGZO TFTs is presented. An analytical drain current model for a-IGZO TFTs is proposed and its validation is demonstrated through experimental results. The instability mechanisms in a-IGZO TFTs under high current stress is investigated through low-frequency noise measurements. For the first time, the effect of engineered glass surface on the performance and reliability of bottom-gate a-IGZO TFTs is reported. The effect of source and drain metal contacts on electrical properties of a-IGZO TFTs including their effective channel lengths is studied. In particular, a-IGZO TFTs with Molybdenum versus Titanium source and drain electrodes are investigated. Finally, the potential of aluminum substrates for use in flexible display applications is demonstrated by fabrication of high performance a-IGZO TFTs on aluminum substrates and investigation of their stability under high current electrical stress as well as tensile and compressive strain