Memory Effect of Self-Assembled PS-b-PEO Block Copolymer Films with Selectively Embedded Functionalized TiO2 Nanoparticles

The memory effect in organic thin film transistors is described with a dielectric hybrid material composed of selectively localized charge trapping titania nanoparticles in a polystyrene-b-polyethyleneoxide (PS-b-PEO) diblock copolymer film. Upon solvent annealing in toluene atmosphere, the films readily form nanophase-separated features of PEO cylinders in a matrix of PS. X-ray reflectivity (XRR) investigations reveal that the TiO2 particles are selectively distributed in the top half of the hybrid layers. Applied in organic thin film transistor devices with 2-tridecyl-[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophen (mono-C-13-BTBT) semiconductor, the hybrid layers induce clockwise drain current hysteresis with promising memory ratio, long-term stability, and endurance. The occurrence of nonvolatile charge trapping directly relates to the hierarchically assembled nanostructure of the nanoparticles in the block copolymer since reference devices with PS homopolymers blended with TiO2 are found to be hysteresis free. Morphological characterization of the hybrid dielectric layers by atomic force microscopy and XRR experiments is presented to shed light on the internal electron density distribution. The layers are subsequently tested in capacitor stacks and transistors.