The present invention relates to an optoelectronic device, its manufacturing method and measurement method, more specifically, the present invention relates to a polymer optoelectronic memory device that is doped with quantum dot, its manufacturing method and measurement method.
In the prior art memory device with organic optically sensitive field effect transistor structure, some of the carriers will be stored in between the active layer and the dielectric layer after light illumination; therefore, in order to let carries be stored at the interface stably, the gate voltage needs to be applied so as to maintain memory time, but this will consume additional power. On the contrary, if the gate electrode voltage is not applied, carriers on the interface will combine quickly with the majority carriers in the active layer and get disappeared, hence, the device will lose the memory function and it is thus not suitable to be applied in general portable product.
For example, the optoelectronic memory having optically conductive film as of U.S. Patent No. 20060278866, which uses optically sensitive film as dynamic random access memory, hence, after each signal reading, carrier needs to be supplied.
Nano tube optoelectronic memory device as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,373 uses nano carbon tube as field effect transistor, and then the optical sensitive film is coated on the carbon tube surface. Since nano carbon tube has both the characteristics of metal and semiconductor, hence, according to the current technology, it is still difficult to separate semiconductor and metal nano carbon tube; but if metallic carbon nano tube is used as field effect transistor, the memory characteristic itself will be lost.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,322, optically reactive type organic field effect transistor is disclosed, which uses organic thin film as the field effect transistor; moreover, when different gate electrode voltages are applied, the effects on the response time and memory time to light are discussed. However, the result as disclosed in the embodiment of the patent shows a very short memory time (<60 seconds).
The first scope of the present invention is to provide an optoelectronic memory device having longer memory time, easier manufacturing process and low cost.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the optoelectronic memory device includes a substrate, an insulation layer, an active layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode. The substrate includes a gate electrode. The insulation layer is formed above the substrate, and the active layer, the source electrode and the drain electrode are all formed above the insulation layer. More specifically, the active layer is formed by a composite material made up of a conjugated polymer material and a quantum dot material. In addition, the source electrode is electrically connected to the active layer, and the drain electrode is electrically connected to the active layer.
The second scope of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing the above mentioned optoelectronic memory device.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprising of the following steps: First, a substrate is formed, which includes a gate electrode. Next, an insulation layer is formed on the substrate, then a source electrode and a drain electrode are formed respectively on the insulation layer. Finally, a composite material is coated on the insulation layer so as to form an active layer, wherein the composite material further comprising of a conjugated polymer material and a quantum dot material. Please notice that in practice, the order of those steps can be changed according to the real situation and it is not necessary to follow the order as listed here.
The third scope of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring the above mentioned optoelectronic memory device.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method includes the following steps: First, the source electrode is grounded, then a drain electrode voltage is applied onto the drain electrode and a first current is measured at the drain electrode. Next, use an optical source to illuminate the optoelectronic memory device and measure a second current at the drain electrode. Finally, compare the sizes of the first current and the second current so as to judge the functional parameter of the optoelectronic memory device. During the real application, functional parameter can be, but is not limited to, for example, the storage time of memory, the memory window size, etc.
In addition, during the actual application and depending on the real situation, we can apply a gate electrode voltage through the gate electrode before the source electrode is grounded so as to deplete the active layer. In addition, after the completion of the above mentioned steps, we can, depending on the real situation, apply a pulse voltage so as to erase the memory state of the optoelectronic memory device.
The advantage and spirit of the present invention can be further understood through the following detailed descriptions of the invention and the drawings attached.
The present invention provides an optoelectronic memory device, its manufacturing method and measurement method. In the followings, the embodiments and real application cases of the present invention are going to be described in details so as to describe fully the features, spirits and advantages of the present invention.
Please refer to
Step S10 for forming a substrate which includes a gate electrode.
Step S12 for forming an insulation layer on the substrate. In practice, this step further comprising of the following two steps: (1) Forming a SiO2 layer on the substrate; (2) Forming a Hexamethyldisilazone (HMDS) layer on the SiO2 layer.
Step S14, forming respectively a source electrode and a drain electrode on the insulation layer.
Step S16, forming a composite material on the insulation layer so as to form an active layer. More specifically, the composite material includes a conjugated polymer material and a quantum dot material. In practice, when the insulation layer includes the HMDS layer, the source electrode, the drain electrode and the active layer are all formed above the HMDS layer.
Step S18, the carryout of annealing treatment. In practice, annealing treatment can be carried out under N2 environment by aiming at active layer at 150° C. for continuous 5 minutes.
In one embodiment, the method for manufacturing optoelectronic memory device in the present invention can include the following steps:
First, dissolve polythiophene (P3HT) and CdSe quantum dot (with diameter 3.5±0.5 nm) into trichloro methane with a solution concentration of 5 mg/ml. Next, use n type silicon wafer (<0.005 Ωcm) to form substrate material and gate electrode; therefore, optoelectronic memory device manufactured by the present embodiment uses the following gate electrode structure.
Later on, 900 Å of silicon dioxide is grown as dielectric layer, and vapor phase deposition method is used to prime HMDS on to the surface of silicon dioxide so as to form an insulation layer. Next, source electrode and drain electrode are formed above the insulation layer. Further next, spin coating method is used to deposit the prepared polythiophene (P3HT) and CdSe quantum dot solutions onto the insulation layer with thin film thickness about 100 nm. Finally, under N2 environment, the thin film is annealed at 150° C. for continuous 5 minutes. Please refer to
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The substrate 50 includes a gate electrode 500 and the active layer 54 includes some quantum dots 540. In addition, the source electrode 56 and the drain electrode 58 are all connected to the active layer 54. In the current embodiment, the source electrode 56 and the drain electrode 58 all adopt finger shape electrodes and are arranged among the active layers 54 in staggered way. As described above, one of the features of the current invention is that the active layer 54 is formed by a composite material that includes conjugated polymer material and quantum dot 540.
In addition, in practice, the substrate 50 can be flexible and can be made up of Si, glass or other suitable materials. In addition, in practice, the insulation layer 52 can be made up of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride or other appropriate materials. As mentioned above, conjugated polymer material includes polythiophene (P3HT), moreover, quantum dot can be metal quantum dot or semiconductor quantum dot, for example, the above mentioned CdSe quantum dot, or other appropriate quantum dot.
As mentioned above, the present invention provides a method for measuring optoelectronic memory device. Please refer to
Step S20, is to ground the source electrode of the optoelectronic memory device.
Step S22, is to apply a drain electrode voltage on the drain electrode and to measure a first current at the drain electrode.
Step S24, is to use an optical source to illuminate the optoelectronic memory device and to measure a second current at the drain electrode.
Step S26, is to compare the sizes of the first current and the second current so as to judge the functional parameter of the optoelectronic memory device, for example, the storage time of the memory, the size of the memory window, etc.
Step S28, is to apply a pulse voltage to erase the memory state of the optoelectronic memory device.
Of course, in practice, the measurement method of the present invention can be used to measure other optoelectronic memory devices too.
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In practice, the above mentioned light source can be selected, according to the optical absorption spectrum characteristic of the active layer material, as white light, ultraviolet light, infrared or other appropriate light sources. In addition, during the actual application, when the composite material includes P type semiconductor material, the gate electrode voltage will be positive. On the contrary, when the composite material includes N type semiconductor, the gate electrode voltage will be negative.
To sum up, it can be seen that the optoelectronic memory device of the present invention uses quantum dot to be doped into conjugated conductive polymer material as the active layer, after the light illumination, electrons will be transferred to quantum dot and get stored within quantum dot, then after the application of appropriate gate electrode voltage, electrons will escape from quantum dot. Through the adoption of quantum dots of different sizes and different types of quantum dots or conjugated conductive polymers of different energy band gaps, the optical writing wavelengths of different devices can be improved. Moreover, through the use of quantum dots of different structures, the trap time of electrons in quantum dots can be increased, and the storage time of the memory can be enhanced too. In addition, the optoelectronic memory device of the present invention is much easier to be manufactured and much cheaper than conventional transistors.
Although the present invention is disclosed by better embodiment as above, yet it is not used to limit the scope of the present invention; anyone who is familiar with the prior art, without deviating the spirit and scope of the present invention, can make any kinds of changes and modifications; therefore, the protection scope of this invention, should rely on what is defined by “what is claimed” as attached below.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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97132581 A | Aug 2008 | TW | national |
This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/484,606 filed on Jun. 15, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,178,866 which claims priority to Application No. 097132581 filed in Taiwan, on Aug. 26, 2008. The entire contents of all of the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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20050133087 | Alivisatos et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20050285161 | Kang et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
20090101206 | Diklich | Apr 2009 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20120112756 A1 | May 2012 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12484606 | Jun 2009 | US |
Child | 13350657 | US |