Scaling of High-Performance Organic Permeable Base Transistors

Organic permeable-base transistors (OPBTs) show potential for high-speed, flexible electronics. Scaling laws of OPBTs are discussed and it is shown that OPBT performance can be increased by reducing their effective device area. Comparing the performance of optimized OPBTs with state-of-the-art organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), it is shown that OPBTs have a higher potential for an increased transit frequency. Not only do OPBTs reach higher transconductance values without the need for sophisticated structuring techniques, but they are also less sensitive to parasitic contact resistances. With the help of a 2D numerical model, the reduced contact resistances of OPBTs are explained by a homogeneous injection of current across the entire emitter electrode, compared to injection in a small area along the edge of the source of OFETs.