Prospects of manufacturing organic semiconductor-based integrated circuits

The driving force for developing organic thin-film transistor (OTFT)-based electronics is the fact that they are flexible, lightweight and have the prospect of low-cost manufacturing. Major barriers in the practical realization of OTFT-based electronic systems are the need for larger power supplies, lower gain, lower switching speeds and reliability problems. New directions leading to changes in the design of transistors, materials used in the fabrication, and processing techniques are warranted for developing process and equipment that can lead to the manufacturing of OTFT-based electronics. For developing dense OTFT-based electronics, the low thermal conductivity (as compared to silicon) of organic semiconductors is a fundamental problem. The use of nanodimension polymers with homogeneous microstructure, transistors operating in subthreshold region and the use of new materials (high and low dielectric constant dielectric materials as well as Cu as the conductor for interconnections) for fabricating transistors and a novel rapid photothermal processing technique for depositing thin films of organic semiconductors as well as for reducing the defects introduced during processing are some of the proposed directions that may lead to the manufacturing of OTFT based electronics.