Dong-Il Moon

All 3D printed flexible ZnO ultraviolet (UV) photodetector is demonstrated, where the 3D printing method is used not only for the electrode and photosensitive material but also for creating a substrate. An ultra-flat and flexible substrate capable of serving as the backbone layer is developed using a water-dissolvable polymer layer for surface planarization. A two layered printing followed by surface treatment is demonstrated for the substrate preparation. As a mechanical support but flexible, a thick and sparse thermoplastic polyurethane layer is printed. On its surface, a thin and dense polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is then printed. A precise control of PVA reflow using micro-water droplet results in a flexible and extremely uniform substrate. A Cu-Ag nanowire network is directly 3D-printed on the flexible substrate for the conducting layer, followed by ZnO for photosensitive material. Unlike the planar two-dimensional printing that provides thin films, 3D printing allows the electrode to have a step height, which can be made like a dam to accommodate a thick film of ZnO. Photosentivity as a function of various ZnO thickness values was investigated to establish an optimal thickness for UV response. The device was also tested in natural sunlight along with stability and reliability.

Gate dielectric damage caused by both internal and external stresses is becoming worse because of aggressive complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) scaling. However, conventional technologies for damage reduction using thermal annealing during fabrication have some limitations. As a result, there is a growing demand for technologies that will cure CMOS damage as a new paradigm for improving long-term reliability. This review paper reexamines self-recovery technologies, which are fully compatible with CMOS fabrication. Although self-heating has long been considered an unwanted operating side effect, it can also be favorably utilized to cure damage. Generated Joule heat arising from device operation can uniformly anneal the gate dielectric and effectively recover damage in various devices, such as conventional logic, memory, and aerospace CMOS devices, as well as thin-film transistors for displays.

A single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based gamma ray detector is demonstrated without conventional scintillation mechanism. The change in the conductance of a two terminal SWCNT resistor in response to gamma ray exposure is exploited as sensing mechanism. Radiation-induced ambient oxygen dissociation and subsequent adsorption of oxygen species on the SWCNT surface alter its electrical properties. The responses to the total dose and dose rate are investigated along with the sensing mechanism. The detector showed high sensitivity to gamma ray and a capability to distinguish radiation dose rates ranging from 2.4 to 16.4 R/min.

Soft error effects due to the alpha particle and terrestrial neutron strike are investigated in a saddle fin DRAM using the 3D TCAD simulation. The strike location and angle dependency are investigated, and the worst-case incidence condition is studied. As the strike time is relevant for the error pattern, the strike during the write period is found to have minor effect, but the strike during the hold period shows data corruption. The inter-active disturbance is effectively suppressed due to the shallow trench isolation, but the inter-active ionizing radiation disturbance can be a potential risk as the capacitance of the storage capacitor continues to reduce with the DRAM technology scaling.

A fabric-compatible UV sensor is presented using a cellulose-based thread coated with single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) ink. Two-terminal resistive responses of the thread were measured upon exposure to UV, and the effects of intensity, wavelength and on/off cycling were studied. The sensor was tested in the field under direct sunlight, demonstrating practical usability for a wearable/flexible UV sensor system. The results here confirm the potential for an inexpensive wearable sensor in contrast to the conventional rigid and bulky solid state detectors.

Successful transition to commercialization and practical implementation of nanotechnology innovations may very well need device designs that are tolerant to the inherent variations and imperfections in all nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes, graphene, and others. As an example, a single-walled carbon nanotube network based gas sensor is promising for a wide range of applications such as environment, industry, and biomedical and wearable devices due to its high sensitivity, fast response, and low power consumption. However, a long-standing issue has been the production of extremely high purity semiconducting nanotubes, thereby contributing to the delay in the market adoption of those sensors. Inclusion of even less than 0.1% of metallic nanotubes, which is inevitable, is found to result in a significant deterioration of sensor-to-sensor uniformity. Acknowledging the coexistence of metallic and semiconducting nanotubes as well as all other possible imperfections, we herein present a novel variation-tolerant sensor design where the sensor response is defined by a statistical Gaussian measure in contrast to a traditional deterministic approach. The single input and multiple output data are attained using multiport electrodes fabricated over a relatively large area single nanotube ensemble. The data processing protocol discards outlier data points and the origin of the outliers is investigated. Both the experimental demonstration and complementary analytical modeling support the hypothesis that the statistical analysis of the device can strengthen the credibility of the sensor constructed using nanomaterials with any imperfections. The proposed strategy can also be applied to physical, radiation, and biosensors as well as other electronic devices.