Stretchable vertical organic transistors and their applications in neurologically systems

Stretchable organic transistors possess great potential in a variety of emerging areas such as biomedical electronics, wearable gadgets and smart skin. Here, stretchable vertical organic field effect transistor (s-VOFET) is developed for the first time, which exhibits low working voltage (-0.5 V), high current density (5.19 mA/cm2) and excellent stretching stability. More interesting, the on state current increased by 68.5% and the subthreshold swing decreased by 25.2% with the increase of the strain to 20%. It is ascribed to the enhanced face-on orientation of 7C-7C stacking in semiconductor film by stretching strain, providing more efficient pathways for vertical charge transport. Meanwhile, simulation results demonstrate that stretching strain can enhance gate field controllability to charge carriers, resulting in enhanced charge transport and accumulation. Moreover, stretchable vertical synaptic transistor (s-VST) is fabricated by replacing cross-linked PVA with ion gel, which exhibits stable synaptic characteristics even with 60% stretching strain. Noticeably, coupling triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and synaptic transistor leads to a new field of triboelectric, which enables the direct interactions between environmental perception data and human-machine interfacing. Therefore, a stretchable self-powered neurologically integrated artificial tactile pathway is constructed using TENG and s-VST, which successfully conducts touch wireless communication and sensory skin touch-interaction. This work provides critical guidelines for the development of high performance stretchable electronic devices and a new platform for enabling neurological functions in stretchable electronics.

Automated summary

Stretchable organic transistors, such as the stretchable vertical organic field effect transistor (s-VOFET) and stretchable vertical synaptic transistor (s-VST), demonstrate excellent electrical properties and stability under strain. Coupling triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with synaptic transistors opens up new possibilities for direct interactions between environmental perception data and human-machine interfacing, paving the way for self-powered neurologically integrated artificial tactile pathways in stretchable electronics.