Reviving the “Schottky” Barrier for Flexible Polymer Dielectrics with a Superior 2D Nanoassembly Coating

Abstract

The organic insulator–metal interface is the most important junction in flexible electronics. The strong band offset of organic insulators over the Fermi level of electrodes should theoretically impart a sufficient impediment for charge injection known as the Schottky barrier. However, defect formation through Anderson localization due to topological disorder in polymers leads to reduced barriers and hence cumbersome devices. A facile nanocoating comprising hundreds of highly oriented organic/inorganic alternating nanolayers is self‐coassembled on the surface of polymer films to revive the Schottky barrier. Carrier injection over the enhanced barrier is further shunted by anisotropic 2D conduction. This new interface engineering strategy allows a significant elevation of the operating field for organic insulators by 45% and a 7× improvement in discharge efficiency for Kapton at 150 °C. This superior 2D nanocoating thus provides a defect‐tolerant approach for effective reviving of the Schottky barrier, one century after its discovery, broadly applicable for flexible electronics.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 19, 2021
Source ID
10.1002/adma.202101374

Entities

People

  • Anna Marie Lachance
  • Boya Zhang
  • Bryan D. Huey
  • Chao Wu
  • Jingjing Liu
  • Luyi Sun
  • Ming Ren
  • Songshan Zeng
  • Sonia E. Chavez
  • T. Richard Jow
  • Thomas J. Moran
  • Yang Cao
  • Zaili Hou
  • Zongze Li

Organizations

  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Army Research Laboratory
  • University of Connecticut

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Polymer Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene