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Electrochemiluminescent Transistors: A New Strategy toward Light‐Emitting Switching Devices
Author(s) -
Lee Seonjeong,
Lee Han Ju,
Ji Yena,
Lee Keun Hyung,
Hong Kihyon
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202005456
Subject(s) - materials science , optoelectronics , transistor , semiconductor , electronics , light emission , electrochemiluminescence , electronic circuit , graphene , nanotechnology , electrode , voltage , electrical engineering , chemistry , engineering
Abstract Light‐emitting transistors (LETs) have attracted a significant amount of interest as multifunctional building blocks for next‐generation electronics and optoelectronic devices. However, it is challenging to obtain LETs with a high carrier mobility and uniform light‐emission because the semiconductor channel should provide both the electrical charge transport and optical light‐emission, and typical emissive semiconductors have low, imbalanced carrier mobilities. In this work, a novel device platform that adapts the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) principle in LETs, referred to as an ECL transistor (ECLT) is proposed. ECL is a light‐emission phenomenon from electrochemically excited luminophores generated by redox reactions. A solid‐state ECL electrolyte consisting of a network‐forming polymer, ionic liquid, luminophore, and co‐reactant is employed as the light‐emitting gate insulator of the ECLT. Based on this construction, high‐performance LETs that make use of various conventional non‐emissive semiconductors (e.g., poly(3‐hexylthiophene), zinc oxide, and reduced graphene oxide) are successfully demonstrated. All the devices exhibit a high mobility (0.9–10 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) and a uniform light‐emission. This innovative approach demonstrates a novel LET platform and provides a promising pathway to achieve significant breakthroughs to develop electronic circuits and optoelectronic applications.