Abstract
Low cost and flexible devices such as wearable electronics, e-labels and distributed sensors will make the future “internet of things” viable. To power and communicate with such systems, high frequency rectifiers are crucial components. We present a simple method to manufacture flexible diodes, operating at GHz frequencies, based on self-adhesive composite films of silicon micro-particles (Si-μPs) and glycerol dispersed in nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC). NFC, Si-μPs and glycerol are mixed in a water suspension, forming a self-supporting nanocellulose-silicon composite film after drying. This film is cut and laminated between a flexible pre-patterned Al bottom electrode and a conductive Ni-coated carbon tape top contact. A Schottky junction is established between the Al electrode and the Si-μPs. The resulting flexible diodes show current levels on the order of mA for an area of 2 mm2, a current rectification ratio up to 4 × 103 between 1 and 2 V bias and a cut-off frequency of 1.8 GHz. Energy harvesting experiments have been demonstrated using resistors as the load at 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz. The diode stack can be delaminated away from the Al electrode and then later on be transferred and reconfigured to another substrate. This provides us with reconfigurable GHz-operating diode circuits.
Highlights
Counterparts such as silicon (Si) transistors[7]
Paper-based substrates and scaffolds are composed mainly of wood fibers and are gaining increased interest from the printed electronics community, mainly because ordinary paper can be produced at low costs and large volumes, and that paper is an environmentally friendly material derived from the forest[26]
The nano-fibrillated cellulose (NFC) fibers have very characteristic properties; they are extremely thin and possess a large aspect ratio; they are hydrophilic and can be dispersed in water as a viscous gel; they can self-organize into thin films using casting from water solutions; and they can create very strong structures caused by the inherent mechanical properties of the cellulose
Summary
Counterparts such as silicon (Si) transistors[7]. Inorganic semiconductors, like Si, have shown superior high frequency performance and are attractive in printed and/or flexible electronic circuits. Several methods have been explored to produce Si-based components on flexible substrates, e.g., by thinning the Si wafers or depositing Si nanomembranes to fabricate components and assembling them to a plastic substrate using lift-off, transfer printing, or peel-and-stick techniques; depositing amorphous Si on polymer substrate, turning Si wafer into Si ribbons; and using solution-processing of silane followed by post annealing[10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17] These methods are often relatively costly, complex and require vacuum and high temperature. Thanks to the self-adhesive properties of the NFC:Si-μPfilm the diode stack can be delaminated from the Al electrode and subsequently transferred to yet another substrate, reconfigurable GHz-operating diode circuits are enabled
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