Conjugated polymer nanoparticles as nano floating gate electrets for high performance nonvolatile organic transistor memory devices

Chien Chung Shih, Y. C. Chiu, Wen Ya Lee, Jung Yao Chen, Wen Chang Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

150 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A molecular nano-fl oating gate (NFG) of pentacene-based transistor memory devices is developed using conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPN) as the discrete trapping sites embedded in an insulating polymer, poly (methacrylic acid) (PMAA). The nanoparticles of polyfl uorene (PF) and poly(fl uorene-altbenzo[ 2,1,3]thiadiazole (PFBT) with average diameters of around 50-70 nm are used as charge-trapping sites, while hydrophilic PMAA serves as a matrix and a tunneling layer. By inserting PF nanoparticles as the fl oating gate, the transistor memory device reveals a controllable threshold voltage shift, indicating effectively electron-trapping by the PF CPN. The electron-storage capability can be further improved using the PFBT-based NFG since their lower unoccupied molecular orbital level is benefi cial for stabilization of the trapped charges, leading a large memory window (35 V), retention time longer than 10 4 s with a high ON/OFF ratio of >10 4 . In addition, the memory device performance using conjugated polymer nanoparticle NFG is much higher than that of the corresponding polymer blend thin fi lms of PF/polystyrene. It suggests that the discrete polymer nanoparticles can be effectively covered by the tunneling layer, PMAA, to achieve the superior memory characteristics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1511-1519
Number of pages9
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume25
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015 Mar 11

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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