Memory effect of a polymer thin-film transistor with self-assembled gold nanoparticles in the gate dielectric

A self-assembled film of gold nanoparticles is integrated into the gate dielectric of an organic thin-film transistor to produce memory effects. The transistor is fabricated on a heavily doped n-type silicon (n⁺-Si) substrate with a thermally grown oxide layer of 100 nm thick. n⁺-Si serves as the gate electrode while the oxide layer functions as the gate dielectric. Gold nanoparticles as the floating gate for charge storage are deposited on the gate oxide by electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly method. A self-assembled multilayer of polyelectrolytes, together with a thin spin-coated poly(4-vinyl phenol) layer, covers the gold nanoparticles and separates them from the poly(3-hexyl thiophene) channel. Gold nanoparticles are charged or discharged with different gate bias so that the channel conductance is modulated. The memory transistor has an on/off ratio over 1500 and data retention time of about 200 s. The low-temperature solution-based process is especially suitable for plastic-based circuits. Therefore, the results of this study could accelerate achievement of cheap and flexible organic nonvolatile memories