High-Gain Logic Inverters based on Multiple Screen-Printed Organic Electrochemical Transistors

Organic electronic circuits based on organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are attracting great attention due to their printability, flexibility, and low voltage operation. Inverters are the building blocks of digital logic circuits (e.g., NAND gates) and analog circuits (e.g., amplifiers). However, utilizing OECTs in electronic logic circuits is challenging due to the resulting low voltage gain and low output voltage levels. Hence, inverters capable of operating at relatively low supply voltages, yet offering high voltage gain and larger output voltage windows than the respective input voltage window are desired. Herein, inverters realized from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate-based OECTs are designed and explored, resulting in logic inverters exhibiting high voltage gains, enlarged output voltage windows, and tunable switching points. The inverter designs are based on multiple screen-printed OECTs and a resistor ladder, where one OECT is the driving transistor while one or two additional OECTs are used as variable resistors in the resistor ladder. The inverters performances are investigated in terms of voltage gain, output voltage levels, and switching point. Inverters, operating at +/-2.5 V supply voltage and an input voltage window of 1 V, that can achieve an output voltage window with similar to 110% increment and a voltage gain up to 42 are demonstrated. Funding Agencies|Swedish foundation for Strategic Research (Silicon-Organic Hybrid Autarkic Systems)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [SE13-0045]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Wallenberg Wood Science Center); European UnionEuropean Commission [825339, 964677]; onnesjo Foundation