Layer-by-layer printing non-volatile organic thin-film transistor memory with a planarly-oriented DNA-complex dielectric

Abstract

Abstract Printing device arrays of the non-volatile memory transistors is highly desired in the roll-to-roll manufacturing of integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate the utilization of an insulating biomacromolecule of DNA in the printed transistor memory. A new DNA derivative was synthesized via an ion-exchange reaction in the aqueous solution. Homogeneous molecular orientation in DNA derivative was achieved through a solution process in butanol, which can be employed as the dielectric with a densely packed structure and a good insulating property. The engineered DNA derivative enables to fabricate integrated organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) memories on a large-area flexible substrate in ambient atmosphere. Combining the results of low-frequency dependence of capacitance and a retention time of more than 100 s, this solution-processed DNA-complex was revealed to be a ferroelectric-like dielectric. The printed memories exhibit hole mobility of 0.65 cm2V−1s−1 and a large memory window up to 13 V, which is enough for a plenty of applications. Therefore, this approach is promising for printing large-scale flexible OTFT memories and for realizing various integrated electronics.