A Low-Voltage, Self-Oriented Organic Polymer Nanocomposite-Based Flexible TFT for Ammonia Gas Sensing at Room Temperature

Abstract

This study includes the fabrication and characterization of a novel, low-voltage, flexible organic thin film transistor (OTFT) for ammonia sensing at room temperature (RT 25°C). The device fabrication process uses a hybrid (inorganic oxide/polymer) dielectric layer as a gate oxide and a polymer/2-D nanocomposite as an active layer. The UV-cured synthesized hybrid dielectric layer of ZrOx/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/poly melamine co-formaldehyde (PMCF) passes with a very smooth film (rms roughness-0.388 nm) (thickness-55 ± 4 nm), the high areal capacitance of 310 nF/cm2, a dielectric constant of ∼ 20, low leakage current density of ∼ 10-9 A/cm2 at-2 V, and a high band gap of 5.27 eV. A uniform thickness of 35 ± 4 nm polymer nanocomposite layer, deposited by the solution-casted floating film transfer (FTM) technique, has been used to investigate the electrical characteristics of the flexible sensor in terms of I/V plot, subthreshold swing (SS), mobility, etc. The bending test of the device has been performed over the curved holder and shows a reliable performance with solution-processed hybrid dielectric and polymer nanocomposite film. Using polymer/2-D nanocomposite material as a sensing layer offers a low detection limit of 500 ppb, a sensing response of 69%, and a fast response/recovery time of 4 ± 0.5/36 ± 4 s over 20 ppm ammonia gas. The fabricated flexible device, therefore, has a potential application in the area of low voltage operated OTFT for ammonia sensing application. © 1963-2012 IEEE.