Development of a manufacturing methodology for organic thin film transistors

Abstract

Researches on molecular electronics become important from the prediction that inorganic devices miniaturization will be at its limit some decades from now. Molecular Electronics appears as an alternative for keep on integrating electronic devices. An important step towards an electronic accomplished by molecules is Organic Electronics. Thus, knowledge concerning the electric and optical properties of organic molecules has become essential, as well as the development of manufacturing processes to incorporate organic materials in this line of devices. Development of conjugated polymers has established new applications as Organic Thin-Film Transistors (OTFT), Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLED), flexible information displays, Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags, textile electronics and sensing. The primarily developed geometry for OTFTs, i.e. the bottom-gate structure, uses silicon substrates and inorganic oxide gates. However, paving the way for innovation, OTFTs top-gate can incorporate dielectric organic and can be manufactured on flexible or rigid substrates. Moreover, using polymers and small molecules as organic semiconductors allows the development of low-cost manufacturing processes. One of the most important transistor parameters, charge carriers mobility can be estimated through Time of Flight measurements. The identification of high-mobility materials is a basic stage for the improvement of organic electronic devices performance. In this context, the actual project will consist of the development of a manufacturing methodology for organic thin-film transistors in which the organic active layer mobility will have been characterized previously. Improvements of manufacturing techniques and knowledge extension concerning these devices are essential for the achievement of a higher-level miniaturization, better efficiency and a wider range of applications.