Facile and solvent-free fabrication of highly oriented ferroelectric copolymer thin films and its application in ferroelectric field effect transistors

An environmentally friendly and solvent-free method was reported for fabrication of ferroelectric copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) thin films directly from their molten mass. Friction-transferred poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) templates were used for epitaxy during solidification process. The obtained films showed highly-oriented crystallite structure and improved degree of crystallinity. Electrical measurement indicated that these films presented good ferroelectric property with remnant polarization comparable to those solution deposited and epitaxially processed films. A ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) was constructed with one oxide semiconductor as an active layer and P(VDF-TrFE) as a ferroelectric layer. The memory device showed an ON/OFF ratio as high as 10⁵ and good retention performance during the whole experimental duration. This work developed a new route for environmentally friendly fabrication of organic ferroelectric devices.     

Ceramic ferroelectric field effect studies

The ferroelectric field effect has been observed in a semiconducting thin film of n-type tin oxide deposited on a ferroelectric lead zirconate-titanate ceramic substrate. The semiconductor was deposited by electron gun evaporation onto a thermally depolarized (randomly oriented) substrate which permitted the carrier concentration of the film to be enhanced or depleted depending on the direction of polarization of the substrate. Typical average resistivity values of 200-Å films are approximately 0.1 Ω.cm for the depoled state, 0.01 Ω.cm for the enhanced state, and 100-1000 Ω.cm for the depleted state. "On"-"off" ratios as high as1.7 times 10^{5}have been observed in a single device. The transition from enhancement to depletion is quasi-continuous due to the small size and random orientation of the individual crystallites in the ceramic. Conductance measurements during this transition have yielded field effect mobilities in the range 7-10 cm²/V.s; and maximum average carrier densities in the range 0.5-1.0 × 10²⁰carriers/cm3. The tin oxide-ceramic devices described here suffer from the long-term drift that is characteristic of many field effect devices. The resistivity of a device stored in the depleted state will decrease from 3 to 4 orders of magnitude in times between 10⁴-10⁵minutes.     

Low-voltage organic ferroelectric field effect transistors using Langmuir–Schaefer films of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluororethylene)

Langmuir–Schaefer transfer was used to fabricate ultrathin films of ferroelectric copolymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (70–30 mol%), for non-volatile memory application at low operating voltage. Increasing the number of transferred monolayers up to 10 led to improved film crystallinity in the “in-plane” direction, which reduced surface roughness of the semicrystalline film. Treatment of the substrate surface by plasma results in different film coverage which was subsequently found to be governed by interaction of the deposited film and surface condition. Localized ferroelectric switching was substantially attained using piezo-force tip at 10 V on 10-monolayer films. Integrating this film as a dielectric layer into organic capacitor and field effect transistor yields a reasonably good leakage current (<10^?7 A/cm²) with hysteresis in capacitance and drain current with ON/OFF ratio of 10³ for organic ferroelectric memory application at significantly reduced operating voltage of |15| V.     

Theory of organic field effect transistors

Field effect transistors with an organic material as active layer are at present essentially used to determine the mobilities in these materials. Until now, in analysing the measured current characteristics, only the simplest (Shockley) model has been used which accounts neither for this type of thin film transistor (TFT), which operates in depletion and accumulation, nor for the nature of the carriers. Starting from two-dimensional simulations for the analogous silicon TFT, we have developed an analytical model for the TFT that accounts for several peculiarities of the current characteristics of this type of transistor. In addition, a first modification has been developed which describes the situation when the charged states are polarons and bipolarons, as is the case in organic materials. Applications to published experimental current characteristics show that a general reanalysis is needed. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Epitaxially-grown GaN junction field effect transistors

Junction field effect transistors (JFETs) are fabricated on a GaN epitaxial structure grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The dc and microwave characteristics of the device are presented. A junction breakdown voltage of 56 V is obtained corresponding to the theoretical limit of the breakdown field in GaN for the doping levels used. A maximum extrinsic transconductance (g_m ) of 48 mS/mm and a maximum source-drain current of 270 mA/mm are achieved on a 0.8 μm gate JFET device at V_GS=1 V and V_DS=15 V. The intrinsic transconductance, calculated from the measured g_m and the source series resistance, is 81 mS/mm. The f_T and f_max for these devices are 6 GHz and 12 GHz, respectively. These JFET's exhibit a significant current reduction after a high drain bias is applied, which is attributed to a partially depleted channel caused by trapped hot-electrons in the semi-insulating GaN buffer layer. A theoretical model describing the current collapse is presented, and an estimate for the length of the trapped electron region is given     

Spin cast self-assembled monolayer field effect transistors

Top-contact self-assembled monolayer field-effect transistors (SAMFETs) were fabricated through both spin-coating and solution assembly of a semiconducting phosphonic acid-based molecule (11-(5?-butyl-[2,2′;5′,2″;5″,2?;5?,2?]quinquethiophen-5-yl)undecylphosphonic acid) (BQT-PA). The field-effect mobilities of both spin-cast and solution assembled SAMFETs were 1.1-8.0 × 10⁻⁶ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ for a wide range of channel lengths (between 12 and 80 μm). The molecular monolayers were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. It was found that the BQT-PA monolayer films exhibit dense surface coverage, bidentate binding, and tilt angles of ∼32° and ∼44° for the thiophene rings and alkyl chain, respectively. These results indicate that rapid throughput of fabricating SAMFETs is possible even by spin-coating.     

Design calculations for MOS field effect transistors

Design equations for the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor are developed. Approximate solutions for static characteristics, transconductance, and frequency cutoff are presented for the case of a very high resistivity substrate. Specific sets of static characteristics from computer calculations are presented graphically to illustrate the effects of oxide thickness and various substrate resistivities.     

Optimum semiconductors for power field effect transistors

The optimization of semiconductor material properties for high voltage field effect transistors is discussed. The on-resistance of these devices is shown to be inversely proportional to the carrier mobility and inversely proportional to the cube of the energy band gap. Based upon this, the on-resistance of GaAs FETs is predicted to be at least twelve times smaller than that of present silicon FETs. Comparison of the projected GaAs FET power switching performance with competing silicon devices (MOSFETs, FCTs, GTOs, and bipolar transistors) indicates that the GaAs FET will have better switching efficiency at all operating frequencies for devices designed with breakdown voltages ranging from 200 to 1000 volts.     

Schottky drain microwave GaAs field effect transistors

A technology is described for the fabrication of Schottky drain microwave GaAs FETs. Preliminary DC and microwave results are given together with expected advantages of this new FET structure.     

Threshold voltage of narrow channel field effect transistors

A new effect associated with Metal-Oxide-Silicon Field-Effect-Transistors (MOS-FET's) is presented in this paper. MOS-FET's show an increase of threshold voltage with decreasing ratio of channel width to gate depletion width. This narrow channel effect is explained by means of geometrical edge effects. With decreasing channel width the transition from the field oxide depletion region to the gate oxide depletion region becomes comparable to the gate width and cannot be neglected in the derivation of the threshold voltage equation.A theoretical model is given to explain the influence of decreasing channel width on the threshold voltage as well as on other electrical parameters. This theoretical model is in good agreement with experimental results given in this paper.     

Neutron irradiation of insulated gate field effect transistors

Insulated gate field effect transistors and polysilicon-gated capacitors were irradiated with fast (10 keV <E < 2 MeV) neutrons. As expected, damage to the bulk silicon was detected as a degradation in the minority carrier lifetime. Optically assisted electron injection was employed for the first time to examine neutral electron trap and fixed positive charge generation in the gate insulator of the devices. While fixed positive charge densities of ≤6 x 10¹⁰ cm⁻² were detected, little or no neutral electron trap generation was observed. The small density of coulombic defects observed in the insulator could be accounted for fully by the known flux of gamma rays associated with the neutron irradiation process. This indicates that fast neutrons passing through a thin gate oxide do not produce significant amounts of damage in the oxide. Somewhat surprisingly, it was found that 1.5 keV X-rays created similar lifetime degradation effects in the bulk silicon, as did fast neutrons, even though this photon energy is not believed to be capable of producing bulk damage in the form of atom displacement in either the semiconductor or the insulator. The minority carrier lifetime of the silicon could be restored to initial values following either neutron or x-ray exposure by annealing in H₂ for 30 min at 400° C.     

Bipolar operation of power junction field effect transistors

Bipolar-mode power j.f.e.t. operation is demonstrated to result in a significant improvement in the on resistance, especially for high-voltage devices. Theoretical analysis and experimental data show that the on resistance varies inversely as the square root of the gate current. High-speed switching in this mode has also been achieved.     

Modeling of submicrometer gate GaAs field effect transistors

Before describing the mainFet modelings today available, the main technological evolutions ofMesfet andTegfet are summarized. It is brought some information on the various physical effects that occur in the devices and that must be taken into account in the models. It is shown that the different kinds of modelings (Monte Carlo, two dimensional, one dimensional) constitute a continuous chain, where the different elements appear strictly complementary. Finally, the present situation concerning modeling ofMesfet andTegfet will be presented.     

Spontaneous oscillations in gallium arsenide field effect transistors

We present results of experiments and numerical simulations designed to reveal the presence of spontaneous oscillations arising from negative differential mobility effects in gallium arsenide field effect transistors. The measurements include d.c. and pulsed current/voltage vs temperature characterization, sampling scope measurements, spectral analysis to 40 GHz and observation of light emission. The simulation is a time dependent large signal transient analysis arising from a fully two-dimensional solution of the self-consistent potential and charge within the device.     

GaAs field effect transistors fabricated by imprint lithography

A GaAs metal–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MESFET) has been realized based on mix-and-match fabrication using optical lithography for the ohmic contacts and imprint lithography for the gate. The gate length and width are 1.2 and 80 μm, respectively, the channel length is 4 μm. For the gate definition a Si-mold is embossed into a thin polymer film located on top of an n-doped GaAs layer. The gate is fabricated by metal evaporation and lift-off.     

Bimolecular recombination in ambipolar organic field effect transistors

In ambipolar organic field effect transistors (OFET) the shape of the channel potential is intimately related to the recombination zone width W, and hence to the electron–hole recombination strength. Experimentally, the recombination profile can be assessed by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM). However, surface potentials as measured by SKPM are distorted due to spurious capacitive couplings. Here, we present a (de)convolution method with an experimentally calibrated transfer function to reconstruct the actual surface potential from a measured SKPM response and vice versa. Using this scheme, we find W = 0.5 μm for a nickel dithiolene OFET, which translates into a recombination rate that is two orders of magnitude below the value expected for Langevin recombination.     

Low frequency noise in junction field effect transistors

Low frequency noise in four-terminal JFETs has been measured as a function of substrate (second gate) bias with temperature and drain current as additional variables. Sharp peaks of noise have been observed at some values of gate bias. The mechanism of low frequency noise caused by Schockley-Read-Hall (SRH) centres and the significance of charge capture processes in and near the channel are discussed. The experimental results show that most of the excess low frequency noise is caused by SRH centres situated in the transition region between the channel and the fully depleted region of the gate-channel junctions. In JFETs with gate-widths of 1000 μm or less the noise caused by unit electronic charge fluctuations at invidual SRH centres can be readily observed.     

Hot electron transport effects in field effect transistors

Present semiconductor devices may be placed in one of several groups according to whether hot electron effects are or are not responsible for their operation. Gunn diodes fall into the former category whereas field effect transistors are in the latter. Currently used field effect transistor materials such as gallium arsenide are however subject to electron transfer with significant negative differential mobility and device operation may be expected to reflect this contribution. We have developed a program that numerically simulates the space and time dependent effects of negative differential mobility on field effect transistor operation. We have also included the effects of the external circuit which we represent by lumped elements. We will illustrate the transient formation of high field domains within the conducting channel and conditions necessary for propagation and recycling between the gate and drain contacts. We will also display stationary space charge configurations specific to the presence of negative differential mobility.     

Organic field effect transistors for textile applications.

In this paper, several issues concerning the development of textiles endowed with electronic functions will be discussed. In particular, issues concerning materials, structures, electronic models, and the mechanical constraints due to textile technologies will be detailed. The idea starts from an already developed organic field-effect transistor that is realized on a flexible film that can be applied, after the assembly, on whatever kind of substrate, in particular, on textiles. This could pave the way to a variety of applications aimed to conjugate the favorable mechanical properties of textiles with the electronic functions of transistors. Furthermore, a possible perspective for the developments of organic sensors based on this structure are described.