Publication date: 28th August 2024
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) prove to be effective devices in various applications such as neuromorphic functionalities, bioelectronics, and sensors. Analyzing these mixed ionic-electronic devices is often complex due to the coupling of hole transport along the channel with ion insertion from the electrolyte. The transient response is a fundamental feature for operating the transistor in synapsis emulation.
We show a transmission line model that unites vertical ion diffusion and horizontal electronic transport for the analysis of the time-dependent current response of OECTs. We show the reduction of the general model to simple time-dependent equations for the average ionic/hole concentration inside the organic film, which produces a Bernards-Malliaras conservation equation coupled with a diffusion equation. We provide a basic classification of the transient response to a voltage pulse, and the correspondent hysteresis effects of the transfer curves, and the impedance and admittance responses. The shape of transients is basically related to the main control phenomenon, either the vertical diffusion of ions during doping and dedoping, or the equilibration of electronic current along the channel length.
Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) via Horizon Europe Advanced Grant, grant agreement nº 101097688 ("PeroSpiker").