Integrated circuits based on conjugated polymer monolayer

Nat Commun. 2018 Jan 31;9(1):451. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02805-5.

Abstract

It is still a great challenge to fabricate conjugated polymer monolayer field-effect transistors (PoM-FETs) due to intricate crystallization and film formation of conjugated polymers. Here we demonstrate PoM-FETs based on a single monolayer of a conjugated polymer. The resulting PoM-FETs are highly reproducible and exhibit charge carrier mobilities reaching 3 cm2 V-1 s-1. The high performance is attributed to the strong interactions of the polymer chains present already in solution leading to pronounced edge-on packing and well-defined microstructure in the monolayer. The high reproducibility enables the integration of discrete unipolar PoM-FETs into inverters and ring oscillators. Real logic functionality has been demonstrated by constructing a 15-bit code generator in which hundreds of self-assembled PoM-FETs are addressed simultaneously. Our results provide the state-of-the-art example of integrated circuits based on a conjugated polymer monolayer, opening prospective pathways for bottom-up organic electronics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't