Photon-energy-dependent light effects in organic nano-floating-gate nonvolatile memories

• High-performance OFET memory based on nano-floating-gate is shown.
• Memory window can be greatly enlarged upon illumination depending on incident photon energy.
• The light effects include the minority multiplication effect and the excitation-induced injection effect.
• Appropriate illumination is favorable for reducing programming/erasing voltage of OFET memory.

A pentacene-based organic field-effect transistor nonvolatile memory, in which polystyrene covered Au nanoparticles act as the nano-floating-gate, is probed under different illumination conditions. The memory window can be greatly enlarged upon illumination depending on incident photon energy and intensity, and two light effects are proposed and discussed. The minority multiplication effect enhances the minority carrier tunneling into the nano-floating-gate, resulting in the remarkable positive VT shift. The excitation-induced injection effect is strongly photon energy dependent, and it is responsible for the significant negative VT shift. Appropriate illumination is favorable for reducing the programming/erasing voltage of organic nano-floating-gate nonvolatile memories.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide