Professor Dr. Marius Grundmann

Universität Leipzig
Fakultät für Physik und Geowissenschaften
Institut für Experimentelle Physik II
Abteilung Halbleiterphysik

Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Thiede

Universität Paderborn
Fakultät EIM
Institut für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
Fachgebiet Höchstfrequenzelektronik                                                   

Project Summary

Goal of the first funding period of the project is a library of devices and analogue as well as digital basic circuit blocks for sensor and communication applications based on devices from amorphous metal-oxide semiconductors on flexible substrates.The hardware implementation will be done using field effect transistors with amorphous n-type semiconductors deposited at or close to room temperature, initially based on zinc-tin oxide but higher mobility materials will be explored. For the gate structure MISFET, MESFET and JFET (based on amorphous p-type oxide semiconductors) will be compared and the most suitable technology for circuits on flexible substrates (criteria: dc and ac performance, performance under mechanical and electrical stress and ease and reproducibility of fabrication) will be chosen and pursued in more detail. The entire fabrication process will be limited to temperatures below 100 °C. The deposition process for the amorphous semiconductor materials currently performed using room temperature PLD will be transferred to and optimized for sputter deposition since this method is established in industry and allows up-scaling as application perspective.Based on fabrication and characterization of passive and active devices, model libraries shall be developed, which constitute the base for circuit level simulations of basic analogue and digital circuit blocks. The frequency target for our first demonstrators is 6.8 MHz; in the course of the project we will target the ISM band at 13.5 MHz for sensor and communication applications on flexible substrates e.g. close to the human body.Consequently, the collaboration with a third group having a reseach focus in communication engineering, sensorics, or medical electronics is envisaged in the perspective for the second funding period. Therefore, results including model, device, and circuit libraries shall be published, but in particular offered for collaborative use in the frame of the Priority Programme FFlexCom.