Heterogeneous Functional Dielectric Patterns for Charge‐Carrier Modulation in Ultraflexible Organic Integrated Circuits

Abstract Flexible electronics have gained considerable attention for application in wearable devices. Organic transistors are potential candidates to develop flexible integrated circuits (ICs). A primary technique for maximizing their reliability, gain, and operation speed is the modulation of charge‐carrier behavior in the respective transistors fabricated on the same substrate. In this work, heterogeneous functional dielectric patterns (HFDP) of ultrathin polymer gate dielectrics of poly((±)endo,exo‐bicyclo[2.2.1]hept‐ene‐2,3‐dicarboxylic acid, diphenylester) (PNDPE) are introduced. The HFDP that are obtained via the photo‐Fries rearrangement by ultraviolet radiation in the homogeneous PNDPE provide a functional area for charge‐carrier modulation. This leads to programmable threshold voltage control over a wide range (−1.5 to +0.2 V) in the transistors with a high patterning resolution, at 2 V operational voltage. The transistors also exhibit high operational stability over 140 days and under the bias‐stress duration of 1800 s. With the HFDP, the performance metrics of ICs, for example, the noise margin and gain of the zero‐V_GS load inverters and the oscillation frequency of ring oscillators are improved to 80%, 1200, and 2.5 kHz, respectively, which are the highest among the previously reported zero‐V_GS‐based organic circuits. The HFDP can be applied to much complex and ultraflexible ICs.