Fabrication of Inkjet-Printed Organic Electrochemcial Transistor

Abstract

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have been a great potential for recording electrophysiology signal. The coupling between ionic and electronic charge within conductive polymer enables the formation of volumetric capacitance that makes OECTs with high signal amplification characteristic. Nevertheless, a conventional fabrication method of OECTs, a spin coating, have key limitations that have constrain of pattern design and many process steps, causing it difficult to control the channel thickness and reducing application opportunities. Here we present the development of inkjet-printed OECTs to leverage drop-on-demand printing technology for facile design and simple fabrication. We first optimize the rheology of conductive polymer ink and inkjet waveform for stable jetting condition, then examined the line formation by varying drop spacings. Using these optimal conditions, we investigated the electrical characteristics of inkjet-printed OECTs through tuning the thickness of channel. Our results can pave the way for the use of inkjet-printed OECTs in the high quality recordings of biological applications.