Flexible hybrid complementary inverters with high gain and balanced noise margins using pentacene and amorphous InGaZnO thin-film transistors

Abstract

Hybrid organic–inorganic complementary inverters composed of pentacene and amorphous InGaZnO for p- and n-channel thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated on flexible polyethersulfone substrates. The p- and n-channel TFTs showed saturation mobility values of 0.15 and 3.8 cm 2/Vs, respectively. We propose a new method to find the switching threshold voltage and the optimum supply voltage of complementary inverters. With this method, we demonstrate hybrid complementary inverters that at a supply voltage of 25 V show a high gain of 130 V/V at a switching threshold voltage of 12.5 V. Operating these inverters at the ideal supply voltage leads to high and balanced noise margins with values of 84% of their theoretical maximum.