Variable temperature performance of a fully screen printed transistor switch

• Published in: Solid-state electronics Vol. 126; pp. 59 - 66
• Main Authors: Zambou, Serges, Magunje, Batsirai, Rhyme, Setshedi, Walton, Stanley D., Idowu, M. Florence, Unuigbe, David, Britton, David T., Härting, Margit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2016
• Subjects: Active silicon; Bias stressing; Charge activated energy; Current switches; Flexible substrate; Printed transistor; Reliability; Screen printing; Variable temperature; Screen printing; Active silicon; Bias stressing; Flexible substrate; Current switches; Printed transistor; Variable temperature; Reliability; Charge activated energy
• ISSN: 0038-1101; 1879-2405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sse.2016.09.014

•Screen printed switches operating as transistor are presented.•We demonstrated that, milled silicon can be used as active material for low temperature and cryogenics environment switches.•Switches made from milled active silicon are reliable over a wide range of temperature (340–10)K.•The transistors produced with active milled silicon are reliable over constant bias stressing on its terminal.•Screen printing is a viable way to produce flexible devices for application in cryogenic electronics. This article reports on the variable temperature performance of a flexible printed transistor which works as a current driven switch. In this work, electronic ink is formulated from nanostructured silicon produced by milling polycrystalline silicon. The study of the silicon active layer shows that its conductivity is based on thermal activation of carriers, and could be used as active layers in active devices. We further report on the transistors switching operation and their electrical performance under variable temperature. The reliability of the transistors at constant current bias was also investigated. Analysis of the electrical transfer characteristics from 340 to 10K showed that the printed devices’ current ON/OFF ratio increases as temperature decreases making it a better switch at lower temperatures. A constant current bias on a terminal for up to six hours shows extraordinary stability in electrical performance of the device.