Energetic Control of Redox-Active Polymers toward Safe Organic Bioelectronic Materials

Avoiding faradaic side reactions during the operation of electrochemical devices is important to enhance the device stability, to achieve low power consumption, and to prevent the formation of reactive side-products. This is particularly important for bioelectronic devices, which are designed to operate in biological systems. While redox-active materials based on conducting and semiconducting polymers represent an exciting class of materials for bioelectronic devices, they are susceptible to electrochemical side-reactions with molecular oxygen during device operation. Here, electrochemical side reactions with molecular oxygen are shown to occur during organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) operation using high-performance, state-of-the-art OECT materials. Depending on the choice of the active material, such reactions yield hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a reactive side-product, which may be harmful to the local biological environment and may also accelerate device degradation. A design strategy is reported for the development of redox-active organic semiconductors based on donor–acceptor copolymers that prevents the formation of H₂O₂ during device operation. This study elucidates the previously overlooked side-reactions between redox-active conjugated polymers and molecular oxygen in electrochemical devices for bioelectronics, which is critical for the operation of electrolyte-gated devices in application-relevant environments.     

Current-handling and switching performance of MOS-controlledthyristor (MCT) structures

Experimental results are reported for array-type MCT devices fabricated using a BiMOS process with additional power-specific fabrication steps. Stationary measurements of both the thyristor forward behavior and the intrinsic p-channel MOSFET switch characteristics are an indication of the device quality. Through dynamic testing procedures, the device was analyzed in its transient current handling. The combination of anode current and blocking voltage values is the highest ever reported on MCT devices (2 kV, 5 A, in 2 μs)     

Range profiles of implanted Bi and Au in amorphous silicon

The Rutherford backscattering technique is used to measure the depth profiles for 10 to 390 keV ²⁰⁹Bi and 15 to 390 keV ¹⁹⁷Au implanted in amorphized silicon wafers. The obtained projected ranges and projected range stragglings are compared with previous data and with recent universal range-energy calculations. Whereas good agreement is found between the experimental and theoretical range predictions for Bi, the measurements for Au yield, at low energies, ranges longer than predicted. The discrepancy between measured Au and Bi ranges is ascribed to the Z₁-range oscillation.     

Monte Carlo simulation and measurement of nanoscale n-MOSFETs

The output characteristics of state-of-the-art n-MOSFETs with effective channel lengths of 40 and 60 nm have been measured and compared with full-band Monte Carlo simulations. The device structures are obtained by process simulation based on comprehensive secondary ion mass spectroscopy and capacitance-voltage measurements. Good agreement between the measured output characteristics and the full-band Monte Carlo simulations is found without any fitting of parameters and the on-currents are reproduced within 4%. The analysis of the velocity profiles along the channel confirms that the on-current is determined by the drift velocity in the source side of the channel. Analytic-band Monte Carlo simulations are found to involve an overestimation of the drain current in the nonlinear regime which becomes larger for increasing drain voltage and decreasing gate length. The discrepancy originates from a higher nonlinear drift velocity and a higher overshoot peak in bulk silicon which is due to differences in the band structures above 100 meV. The comparison between analytic-band and full-band Monte Carlo simulation therefore shows that the source-side velocity in the on-state is influenced by nonlinear and quasiballistic transport.     

Waveform coding for low-power digital filtering of speech data

This paper evaluates waveform coding techniques known from low bit-rate communication for their usefulness in low-power digital FIR filtering of speech signals. The encodings considered include linear PCM, PCM with adaptive and logarithmic quantization, and differential PCM, combined with two's-complement and sign-magnitude number representation. Selected implementation aspects for each alternative are discussed. Experimental results are presented to quantify potential power savings subject to statistical signal properties and operating conditions. Guidelines for the choice of encoding in application-specific digital signal processing of speech data are provided.     

Design aspects of MOS-controlled thyristor elements: technology,simulation, and experimental results

2.5-kV thyristor devices have been fabricated with integrated MOS controlled n⁺-emitter shorts and a bipolar turn-on gate using a p-channel DMOS technology. Square-cell geometries with pitch variations ranging from 15 to 30 μm were implemented in one- and two-dimensional arrays with up to 20000 units. The impact of the cell pitch on the turn-off performance and the on-state voltage was studied for arrays with constant cathode area as well as for single-cell structures. By realizing MOS components with submicrometer channel lengths, scaled single cells are shown to turn off with current densities of several kiloamperes per square centimeter at a gate bias of 5 V. In the case of multi-cell ensembles, turn-off performance is limited due to inhomogeneous current distribution. Critical process parameters as well as the device behavior were optimized through multidimensional numerical simulation     

Linking Glass-Transition Behavior to Photophysical and Charge Transport Properties of High-Mobility Conjugated Polymers

The measurement of the mechanical properties of conjugated polymers can reveal highly relevant information linking optoelectronic properties to underlying microstructures and the knowledge of the glass transition temperature (T_g) is paramount for informing the choice of processing conditions and for interpreting the thermal stability of devices. In this work, we use dynamical mechanical analysis to determine the T_g of a range of state-of-the-art conjugated polymers with different degrees of crystallinity that are widely studied for applications in organic field-effect transistors. We compare our measured values for T_g to the theoretical value predicted by a recent work based on the concept of effective mobility ζ. The comparison shows that for conjugated polymers with a modest length of the monomer units, the T_g values agree well with theoretically predictions. However, for the near-amorphous, indacenodithiophene–benzothiadiazole family of polymers with more extended backbone units, values for T_g appear to be significantly higher, predicted by theory. However, values for T_g are correlated with the sub-bandgap optical absorption suggesting the possible role of the interchain short contacts within materials’ amorphous domains.     

Efficiency of Light Outcoupling Structures in Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes: 2D TiO2 Array as a Model System

Organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) are widely used in research and are established in the industry. The building block nature of organic compounds enables a vast variety of materials. On top of that, there exist many strategies to improve the light outcoupling of OLEDs making a direct comparison of outcoupling technologies difficult. Here, a novel approach is introduced for the evaluation of light outcoupling structures. The new defined “efficiency of light outcoupling structures” (ELOS) clearly determines the effectiveness of the light outcoupling structure by weighting the experimental efficiency enhancement over the theoretical outcoupling gain. It neither depends on cavity design nor on the chosen organic material. The methodology is illustrated for red phosphorescent OLEDs comprising internal and external light outcoupling structures. Assumptions and further uses are discussed with respect to experimental and theoretical handling. In addition, the ELOS is calculated for various outcoupling techniques from literature to demonstrate the universality. Finally, most suitable reference OLEDs are discussed for application of light outcoupling structures. The presented approach enables new possibilities for studying light outcoupling structures and improves their comparability in a highly material‐driven research field.