Device design principles and bioelectronic applications for flexible organic electrochemical transistors

Organic electrochemical transistors(OECTs) exhibit significant potential for applications in healthcare and human-machine interfaces, due to their tunable synthesis, facile deposition, and excellent biocompatibility. Expanding OECTs to the fexible devices will significantly facilitate stable contact with the skin and enable more possible bioelectronic applications. In this work,we summarize the device physics of fexible OECTs, aiming to offer a foundational understanding and guidelines for material selection and device architecture. Particular attention is paid to the advanced manufacturing approaches, including photolithography and printing techniques, which establish a robust foundation for the commercialization and large-scale fabrication. And abundantly demonstrated examples ranging from biosensors, artificial synapses/neurons, to bioinspired nervous systems are summarized to highlight the considerable prospects of smart healthcare. In the end, the challenges and opportunities are proposed for fexible OECTs. The purpose of this review is not only to elaborate on the basic design principles of fexible OECTs, but also to act as a roadmap for further exploration of wearable OECTs in advanced bio-applications.

Optoelectronic properties analysis of silicon light-emitting diode monolithically integrated in standard CMOS IC

Si p^+n junction diodes operating in the mode of avalanche breakdown are capable of emitting light in the visible range of 400-900 nm. In this study, to realize the switching speed in the GHz range, we present a transient model to shorten the carrier lifetime in the high electric field region by accumulating carriers in both p and n type regions. We also verify the optoelectronic characteristics by disclosing the related physical mechanisms behind the light emission phenomena. The emission of visible light by a monolithically integrated Si diode under the reverse bias is also discussed. The light is emitted as spatial sources by the defects located at the p-n junction of the reverse-biased diode. The influence of the defects on the electrical behavior is manifested as a current-dependent electroluminescence.

Recent Progress in the Fabrication, Properties, and Devices of Heterostructures Based on 2D Materials

With a large number of researches being conducted on two?dimen?sional(2D) materials, their unique properties in optics, electrics, mechanics, and magnetics have attracted increasing attention. Accordingly, the idea of combining distinct functional 2D materials into heterostructures naturally emerged that pro?vides unprecedented platforms for exploring new physics that are not accessible in a single 2D material or 3D heterostructures. Along with the rapid development of controllable, scalable, and programmed synthesis techniques of high?quality 2D heterostructures, various heterostructure devices with extraordinary performance have been designed and fabricated, including tunneling transistors, photodetectors, and spintronic devices. In this review, we present a summary of the latest progresses in fabrications, properties, and applications of di erent types of 2D heterostruc?tures, followed by the discussions on present challenges and perspectives of further investigations.

A new analytical model of high voltage silicon on insulator(SOI) thin film devices

A new analytical model of high voltage silicon on insulator （SOI） thin film devices is proposed, and a formula of silicon critical electric field is derived as a function of silicon film thickness by solving a 2D Poisson equation from an effective ionization rate, with a threshold energy taken into account for electron multiplying. Unlike a conventional silicon critical electric field that is constant and independent of silicon film thickness, the proposed silicon critical electric field increases sharply with silicon fihn thickness decreasing especially in the case of thin films, and can come to 141V/μm at a film thickness of 0.1 μm which is much larger than the normal value of about 30 V/μm. From the proposed formula of silicon critical electric field, the expressions of dielectric layer electric field and vertical breakdown voltage （VB,V） are obtained. Based on the model, an ultra thin film can be used to enhance dielectric layer electric field and so increase vertical breakdown voltage for SOI devices because of its high silicon critical electric field, and with a dielectric layer thickness of 2 μm the vertical breakdown voltages reach 852 and 300V for the silicon film thicknesses of 0.1 and 5μm, respectively. In addition, a relation between dielectric layer thickness and silicon film thickness is obtained, indicating a minimum vertical breakdown voltage that should be avoided when an SOI device is designed. 2D simulated results and some experimental results are in good agreement with analytical results.

A novel SiC high-k superjunction power MOSFET integrated Schottky barrier diode with improved forward and reverse performance

A new SiC superjunction power MOSFET device using high-k insulator and p-type pillar with an integrated Schottky barrier diode(Hk-SJ-SBD MOSFET)is proposed,and has been compared with the SiC high-k MOSFET(Hk MOSFET),SiC superjuction MOSFET(SJ MOSFET)and the conventional SiC MOSFET in this article.In the proposed SiC Hk-SJ-SBD MOSFET,under the combined action of the p-type region and the Hk dielectric layer in the drift region,the concentration of the N-drift region and the current spreading layer can be increased to achieve an ultra-low specific on-resistance(Ron,sp).The integrated Schottky barrier diode(SBD)also greatly improves the reverse recovery performance of the device.TCAD simulation results indicate that the Ron,sp of the proposed SiC Hk-SJ-SBD MOSFET is 0.67 mΩ·cm^(2)with a 2240 V breakdown voltage(BV),which is more than 72.4%,23%,5.6%lower than that of the conventional SiC MOSFET,Hk SiC MOSFET and SJ SiC MOSFET with the 1950,2220,and 2220V BV,respectively.The reverse recovery time and reverse recovery charge of the proposed MOSFET is 16 ns and18 nC,which are greatly reduced by more than 74%and 94%in comparison with those of all the conventional SiC MOSFET,Hk SiC MOSFET and SJ SiC MOSFET,due to the integrated SBD in the proposed MOSFET.And the trade-off relationship between the Ron,sp and the BV is also significantly improved compared with that of the conventional MOSFET,Hk MOSFET and SJ MOSFET as well as the MOSFETs in other previous literature,respectively.In addition,compared with conventional SJ SiC MOSFET,the proposed SiC MOSFET has better immunity to charge imbalance,which may bring great application prospects.

Optimized growth and dielectric properties of barium titanate thin films on polycrystalline Ni foils

Barium titanate（BTO） thin films were deposited on polycrystalline Ni foils by using the polymer assisted deposition（PAD） technique.The growth conditions including ambient and annealing temperatures were carefully optimized based on thermal dynamic analysis to control the oxidation processing and interdiffusion.Crystal structures,surface morphologies,and dielectric performance were examined and compared for BTO thin films annealed under different temperatures.Correlations between the fabrication conditions,microstructures,and dielectric properties were discussed.BTO thin films fabricated under the optimized conditions show good crystalline structure and promising dielectric properties with εr～ 400 and tan δ 〈 0.025 at 100 kHz.The data demonstrate that BTO films grown on polycrystalline Ni substrates by PAD are promising in device applications.

Study of nanocrystalline VO_2 thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering and post-oxidation

Nanocrystalline VO2 thin films were deposited onto glass slides by direct current magnetron sputtering and postoxidation. These films undergo semiconductor-metal transition at 70 ℃, accompanied by a resistance drop of two magnitude orders. The crystal structures and surface morphologies of the VO2 films were characterized by x-ray diffraction （XRD） and atomic force microscope （AFM）, respectively. Results reveal that the average grain size of VO2 nanograins measured by XRD is smaller than those measured by AFM. In addition, Raman characterization indicates that stoichiometric VO2 and oxygen-rich VO2 phases coexist in the films, which is supported by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） results. Finally, the optical properties of the VO2 films in UV-visible range were also evaluated. The optical band gap corresponding to 2p-3d inter-band transition was deduced according to the transmission and reflection spectra. And the deduced value, Eopt2p-3d ： 1.81 eV, is in good agreement with that previously obtained by theoretical calculation.

Manipulating the ion-transference and deposition kinetics by regulating the surface chemistry of zinc metal anodes for rechargeable zinc-air batteries

Aqueous zinc-air battery(ZAB)has attractive features as the potential energy storage system such as high safety,low cost and good environmental compatibility.However,the issue of dendrite growth on zinc metal anodes has seriously hindered the development of ZAB.Herein,the N-doped carbon cloth(NC)prepared via magnetron sputtering is explored as the substrate to induce the uniform nucleation of zinc metal and suppress dendrite growth.Results show that the introduction of heteroatoms accelerates the migration and deposition kinetics of Zn^(2+)by boosting the desolvation process of Zn^(2+),eventually reducing the nucleation overpotential.Besides,theoretical calculation results confirm the zincophilicity of N-containing functional group(such as pyridine N and pyrrole N),which can guide the nucleation and growth of zinc uniformly on the electrode surface by both promoting the redistribution of Zn^(2+) in the vicinity of the surface and enhancing its interaction with zinc atoms.As a result,the half-cell assembled with magnetron sputtered carbon cloth achieves a high zinc stripping/plating coulombic efficiency of 98.8%and long-term stability of over 500 cycles at 0.2 mA cm^(-2).And the Coulombic efficiency reached about 99.5%at the 10th cycle and maintained for more than 210 cycles at a high current density of 5.0 mA cm^(-2).The assembled symmetrical battery can deliver 220 plating/stripping cycles with ultra-low voltage hysteresis of only 11 mV.In addition,the assembled zinc-air full battery with NC-Zn anode delivers a high special capacity of about 429 mAh g_(Zn)^(-1) and a long life of over 430 cycles.The effectiveness of surface functionalization in promoting the transfer and deposition kinetics of Zn^(2+) presented in this work shows enlightening significance in the development of metal anodes in aqueous electrolytes.

Optimal impurity distribution model and experimental verification of variation of lateral doping termination

Based on the charge balance principle,an optimal impurity distribution variation of lateral doping termination(OIDVLD)and its ion-injection mask design method are proposed and verified.The comparative simulations and experiments show that OID-VLD can achieve better blocking ability and reliability than the traditional VLD(T-VLD).Vertical double diffusion MOSFET(VDMOS)with OID-VLD achieved breakdown voltage(BV)of 1684 V and passed the 168 hours 100℃-110℃-120℃-125℃high-temperature reverse bias(HTRB)test,while VDMOS with T-VLD obtained BV of 1636 V and failed in the 20 hours 120℃HTRB test.

Boosting efficiency and stability of 2D alternating cation perovskite solar cells via rational surface-modification: Marked passivation efficacy of anion

Two-dimensional(2D) alternating cation(ACI) perovskite surface defects,especially dominant iodine vacancies(V_Ⅰ) and undercoordinated Pb^(2+),limit the performance of perovskite solar cells(PVSCs).To address the issue,1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoro-methane-sulfonate(BMIMOTF) and its iodide counterpart(BMIMI) are utilized to modify the perovskite surface respectively.We find that BMIMI can change the perovskite surface,whereas BMIMOTF shows a nondestructive and more effective defect passivation,giving significantly reduced defect density and suppressed charge-carrier nonradiative recombination.This mainly attributes to the marked passivation efficacy of OTF-anion on V_Ⅰ and undercoordinated Pb^(2+),rather than BMIMI^(+) cation.Benefiting from the rational surface-modification of BMMIMOTF,the films exhibit an optimized energy level alignment,enhanced hydrophobicity and suppressed ion migration.Consequently,the BMIMOTF-modified devices achieve an impressive efficiency of 21.38% with a record open-circuit voltage of 1.195 V,which is among the best efficiencies reported for 2D PVSCs,and display greatly enhanced humidity and thermal stability.

High sintering and dielectric performance:The improved(Mg,Zn)_(3)B_(2)O_(6) ceramics with the help of the DFT calculation

With the help of the first principle calculation,the solid-state reaction experiment was conducted to investigate the alteration in the sintering and the microwave dielectric properties of Mg_(3)B_(2)O_(6)ceramic with many Zn^(2+)substitutions.These properties were characterized using the scanning electron microscopy,network analyzer,X-ray diffraction,Raman spectroscopy,energy-dispersive spectroscopy,and thermomechanical and differential-thermal analyses.The coexistence of Mg_(3)B_(2)O_(6),Mg_(2)B_(2)O_(5)and ZnO ceramics could be observed with increasing Zn^(2+)addition,and the lattice distortion occurred in the Mg_(2)B_(2)O_(5)and Mg_(3)B_(2)O_(6)ceramics due to the substitution of Mg^(2+)with Zn^(2+).The electron density and the bond property of the MgO_(6)octahedron changed,and a quantitative method was used to discuss the variation in sintering,substitution and phase formation properties.The densification window was decreased to 1100℃,and the dielectric properties improved with the formation of a three-phase borate solid solution(dielectric constant=6.73,quality factor=112,000 GHz at 16 GHz(Q=7000),temperature coefficient of resonant frequency=-61.2 ppm℃^(-1),and relative density=97.0%).

One-step fabrication of TiO2/graphene hybrid mesoporous film with enhanced photocatalytic activity and photovoltaic performance

We synthesized a mesoporous film based on TiO2-reduced graphene oxide(RGO)hybrids using a one-step vapor-thermal method without the need for an additional annealing process.The vapor-thermally prepared TiO2-graphene hybrid(VTH)features unique structures with an ultra-large specific surface area of^260 m^2 g^-1 and low aggregation,giving rise to enhanced light harvesting and increased charge generation and separation efficiency.It was observed that a mesoporous film with uniform pore distribution is simultaneously obtained during the VTH growth process.When a 5.0 wt%RGO VTH film was used as the active layer in photocatalysis,the highest photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange was achieved.For another,when a 0.75 wt%RGO VTH film was used as the photoanode in a dye-sensitized solar cell,the power conversion efficiency reached 7.58%,which represents an increase of 73.1%compared to a solar cell using an a photoanode of pure TiO2 synthesized by a traditional solvothermal method.It is expected that this facile method for the synthesis of TiO2/graphene hybrid mesoporous films will be useful in practical applications for preparing other metal oxide/graphene hybrids with ultra-high photocatalytic activity and photovoltaic performance.

Microstructure and electrical properties of La_2 O_3-doped ZnO-based varistor thin films by sol-gel process

Microstructure and electrical properties of La2 O3-doped ZnO-Bi2 O3 thin films prepared by sol–gel process have been investigated.X-ray diffraction shows that most diffraction peaks of ZnO are equal,and the crystals of ZnO grow well.Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy results indicate that the samples have a good structure and lower surface roughness.The nonlinear V–I characteristics of the films show that La2 O3 develops the electrical properties largely and the best doped content is 0.3% lanthanum ion,with the leakage current of 0.25 mA,the threshold field of 150 V/mm and the nonlinear coefficient of 4.0 in detail.

Effects of Eu_2O_3 doping on microstructural and electronic properties of ZnO Bi_2O_3-based varistor ceramics prepared by high-energy ball milling

ZnO-Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics doped with EU2O3 in a range from 0 to 0.4% were obtained by high-energy ball milling and fired at 900-1000 ℃ for 2 h. XRD and SEM were applied to determine the phases and microstructure of the varistor ceramics. A DC parameter instrument was applied to investigate the electronic properties and V-I characteristics. The XRD analysis of Eu2O3-doped ZnO-Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics shows that the ZnO, Eu-containing Bi-rich, Zn7Sb2O12-type spinel and Zn2Bi3Sb3O14-type which is the pyrochlore phase are present. With increasing Eu2O3 content, the average size of ZnO grain firstly decreases and then increases. The grain boundary defect model was particularly used to explain the excellent nonlinearity of ZnO-Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics with the addition of0.1% Eu2O3 and sintered at 950 ℃.

Texture and self-biased property of an oriented M-type barium ferrite thick film by tape casting

In this paper, the oriented M-type barium ferrite （BaM） thick films with different thicknesses are prepared by tape casting. It is found that the crystallographic alignment degree （f）, the pore and the squareness ratio （Mr/Ms） are not affected by the thickness of the film. XRD and SEM results show that the thick film has hexagonal morphology with a crystal texture of c-axis grains perpendicular to film plane. The hysteresis curve indicates that the BaM thick film exhibits a self-biased property with a remanent magnetization of 3.30 T, a squareness ratio （Mr/Ms） of 0.81, and a coercivity of 0.40 T. The results show that the BaM thick film has potential for use in self-biasing microwave devices, and also proves that the tape casting technique is capable of fabricating high-quality barium ferrite films, thus providing a unique opportunity to realize the large area production of thick film.

High-Throughput Growth of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Film Using Porous-Structure Isolation Layer

Chemical vapor deposition is considered as the most hopeful method for the synthesis of large-area high-quality hexagonal boron nitride on the substrate of catalytic metal. However, the size the hexagonal boron nitride films are limited to the size of growth chamber, which indicates a lower production efficiency. In this paper, the utilization efficiency of growth chamber is highly improved by alternately stacking multiple pieces of Cu foils and carbon fiber surface felt with porous structure. Uniform and continuous hexagonal boron nitride films are prepared on Cu foils through chemical vapor deposition utilizing ammonia borane as the precursor. This work develops a simple and practicable method for high-throughput preparation of hexagonal boron nitride films, which could contribute to the industrial application of hexagonal boron nitride. .

Enhancement of electroluminescent properties of organic optoelectronic integrated device by doping phosphorescent dye

Organic optoelectronic integrated devices（OIDs） with ultraviolet（UV） photodetectivity and different color emitting were constructed by using a thermally activated delayed fluorescence（TADF） material 4, 5-bis（carbazol-9-yl）-1, 2-dicyanobenzene（2 CzPN） as host. The OIDs doping with typical red phosphorescent dye [tris（1-phenylisoquinoline）iridium（Ⅲ）, Ir（piq）3], orange phosphorescent dye {bis[2-（4-tertbutylphenyl）benzothiazolato-N,C-（2＇）]iridium（acetylacetonate）,（tbt）2 Ir（acac）}, and blue phosphorescent dye [bis（2, 4-di-fluorophenylpyridinato）-tetrakis（1-pyrazolyl）borate iridium（Ⅲ）, FIr6] were investigated and compared. The（tbt）2 Ir（acac）-doped orange device showed better performance than those of red and blue devices, which was ascribed to more effective energy transfer. Meanwhile, at a low dopant concentration of 3 wt.%, the（tbt）2 Ir（acac）-doped OIDs showed the maximum luminance, current efficiency, power efficiency of 70786 cd/m^2, 39.55 cd/A, and 23.92 lm/W, respectively, and a decent detectivity of 1.07 × 10^11 Jones at a bias of -2 V under the UV-350 nm illumination. This work may arouse widespread interest in constructing high efficiency and luminance OIDs based on doping phosphorescent dye.

Study of leakage current degradation based on stacking faults expansion in irradiated SiC junction barrier Schottky diodes

A comprehensive investigation was conducted to explore the degradation mechanism of leakage current in SiC junction barrier Schottky(JBS)diodes under heavy ion irradiation.We propose and verify that the generation of stacking faults(SFs)induced by the recombination of massive electron-hole pairs during irradiation is the cause of reverse leakage current degradation based on experiments results.The irradiation experiment was carried out based on Ta ions with high linear energy transfer(LET)of 90.5 MeV/(mg/cm^(2)).It is observed that the leakage current of the diode undergoes the permanent increase during irradiation when biased at 20%of the rated reverse voltage.Micro-PL spectroscopy and PL micro-imaging were utilized to detect the presence of SFs in the irradiated SiC JBS diodes.We combined the degraded performance of irradiated samples with SFs introduced by heavy ion irradiation.Finally,three-dimensional(3D)TCAD simulation was employed to evaluate the excessive electron-hole pairs(EHPs)concentration excited by heavy ion irradiation.It was observed that the excessive hole concentration under irradiation exceeded significantly the threshold hole concentration necessary for the expansion of SFs in the substrate.The proposed mechanism suggests that the process and material characteristics of the silicon carbide should be considered in order to reinforcing against the single event effect of SiC power devices.

NbN quantum dots anchored hollow carbon nanorods as efficient polysulfide immobilizer and lithium stabilizer for Li-S full batteries

The shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides(LiPSs)and uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth seriously hinder the practical application of lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries.To simultaneously address such issues,monodispersed Nb N quantum dots anchored on nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanorods(NbN@NHCR)are elaborately developed as efficient Li PSs immobilizer and Li stabilizer for high-performance Li-S full batteries.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations and experimental characterizations demonstrate that the sulfiphilic and lithiophilic NbN@NHCR hybrid can not only efficiently immobilize the soluble Li PSs and facilitate diffusion-conversion kinetics for alleviating the shuttling effect,but also homogenize the distribution of Li+ions and regulate uniform Li deposition for suppressing Li-dendrite growth.As a result,the assembled Li-S full batteries(NbN@NHCR-S||Nb N@NHCR-Li)deliver excellent long-term cycling stability with a low decay rate of 0.031%per cycle over 1000 cycles at high rate of 2 C.Even at a high S loading of 5.8 mg cm^(-2)and a low electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 5.2μL mg^(-1),a large areal capacity of 6.2 mA h cm^(-2)can be achieved in Li-S pouch cell at 0.1 C.This study provides a new perspective via designing a dual-functional sulfiphilic and lithiophilic hybrid to address serious issues of the shuttle effect of S cathode and dendrite growth of Li anode.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in GeSn thin film based on time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy

We measure the time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy of GeSn thin film and studied the ultrafast dynamics of its photo-generated carriers.The experimental results show that there are photo-generated carriers in GeSn under femtosecond laser excitation at 2500 nm,and its pump-induced photoconductivity can be explained by the Drude–Smith model.The carrier recombination process is mainly dominated by defect-assisted Auger processes and defect capture.The firstand second-order recombination rates are obtained by the rate equation fitting,which are(2.6±1.1)×10^(-2)ps^(-1)and(6.6±1.8)×10^(-19)cm^(3)·ps^(-1),respectively.Meanwhile,we also obtain the diffusion length of photo-generated carriers in GeSn,which is about 0.4μm,and it changes with the pump delay time.These results are important for the GeSn-based infrared optoelectronic devices,and demonstrate that Ge Sn materials can be applied to high-speed optoelectronic detectors and other applications.