Fully inkjet-printed flexible organic voltage inverters as a basic component in digital NOT gates

In relation to conventional vacuum-based processing techniques inkjet printing enables upscaling fabrication of basic electronic elements, such as transistors and diodes. We present the fully inkjet printed flexible electronic circuits, including organic voltage inverter which can work as a NOT logic gate. For this purpose the special ink compositions were formulated to preparation of gate dielectric layer containing poly (4-vinylphenol) and of the semiconductor layer poly[2,5-(2-octyldodecyl)-3,6-diketopyrrolopyrrole-alt-5,5-(2,5-di(thien-2-yl)thieno [3,2-b]thiophene)]. A printed photoxidized poly (3-hexyltiophene) semiconductor was used as the active layer of the resistors. The operation of the printed inverters and NOT logic gates was analyzed based on the DC current-voltage characteristics of the devices. The resistance of the devices to atmospheric air was also tested. Not encapsulated samples stored for three years under ambient conditions. Followed by annealing to remove moisture showed unchanged electrical parameters in comparison to freshly printed samples.

Automated summary

Inkjet printing is a scalable fabrication method for basic electronic elements. The study demonstrates fully inkjet printed flexible electronic circuits, including an organic voltage inverter acting as a NOT logic gate. The printed circuits show stable electrical parameters even after three years of storage under ambient conditions.