Nonvolatile Electric Double-Layer Transistor Memory Devices Embedded with Au Nanoparticles.

We present nonvolatile transistor memory devices that rely on the formation of electric double layer (EDL) at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface. The two critical functional components of the devices are the ion gel electrolyte and gold nanoparticles (NPs). The ion gel electrolyte contains ionic species for EDL formation that allow inducing charges in the semiconductor-electrolyte interface. The gold NPs inserted between the ion gel and the channel layer serve as trapping sites to the induced charges to store the electrical input signals. Two different types of gold NPs were used: one prepared using direct thermal evaporation and the other prepared using a colloidal process. The organic ligands attached onto the colloidal gold NPs prevented the escape of the trapped charges from the particles and thus enhanced the retention characteristics of the programmed/erased signals. The low-voltage-driven EDL formation resulted in a programmed/erased memory signal ratio larger than 103 from the nonvolatile indium-gallium-zinc oxide transistor memory devices at voltages below 10 V, which could be held for >105 s. The utility of the electrolytes to operate memory devices demonstrated herein should provide an alternative strategy to realize cheap, portable electronic devices powered with thin-film batteries.

Electrically Controllable Molecularization of Terahertz Meta-Atoms.

Active control of metamaterial properties is critical for advanced terahertz (THz) applications. However, the tunability of THz properties, such as the resonance frequency and phase of the wave, remains challenging. Here, a new device design is provided for extensively tuning the resonance properties of THz metamaterials. Unlike previous approaches, the design is intended to control the electrical interconnections between the metallic unit structures of metamaterials. This strategy is referred to as the molecularization of the meta-atoms and is accomplished by placing graphene bridges between the metallic unit structures whose conductivity is modulated by an electrolyte gating. Because of the scalable nature of the molecularization, the resonance frequency of the terahertz metamaterials can be tuned as a function of the number of meta-atoms constituting a unit metamolecule. At the same time, the voltage-controlled molecularization allows delicate control over the phase shift of the transmitted THz, without changing the high transmission of the materials significantly.

Area-Controllable Stamping of Semicrystalline Copolymer Ionogels for Solid-State Electrolyte-Gated Transistors and Light-Emitting Devices.

Two types of thin-film electrochemical devices (electrolyte-gated transistors and electrochemical light-emitting cells) are demonstrated using area-controllable ionogel patches generated by transfer-stamping. For the successful transfer of ionogel patches on various target substrates, thermoreversible gelation by phase-separated polymer crystals within the ionogel is essential because it allows the gel to form a conformal contact with the acceptor substrate, thereby lowering the overall Gibbs energy of the system upon transfer of the ionogel. This crystallization-mediated stamping provides a much more efficient deposition route for producing thin films of ionically conductive high-capacitance solid ionogel electrolytes. The lateral dimensions of the transferred ionogels range from 1 mm × 1 mm to 40 mm × 40 mm. These ionogel patches are incorporated in organic p-type and inorganic n-type thin-film transistors and electrochemical light-emitting devices. The resulting transistors show sub-1 V device operation with high transconductance currents, and the optoelectronic devices emit orange light through a series of electrochemical redox reactions. These results demonstrate a simple yet versatile route to employ physical ionogels for various solid-state electrochemical device applications.