KAUST leads effort to build organic Schottky diodes

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Scientists at KAUST have led an international effort to develop a component for radio-frequency circuits using an organic material with potential for 5G applications.

Organic semiconductors are made using solvent-based processing techniques, making them cheaper and more flexible than their inorganic counterparts.© 2022 KAUST

Organic semiconductors share many of the physical properties as their inorganic counterparts, such as silicon-based semiconductors, and are made using solvent-based processing techniques. This makes them cheaper and more flexible, but a significant drawback is that electrical charges move more slowly in organic materials. According to KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) in Saudi Arabia this drawback is a barrier to applying organic semiconductors for use in applications such as radio-frequency electronics.

“Unlike their inorganic counterparts, organic semiconductors are cheap and easy to process via solution-based routes like printing or blade and die coating,” said Ph.D. student Kalaivanan Loganathan, working with Thomas Anthopoulos. “To make this technology useful for the 5G frequency band, there is a need to fabricate organic Schottky diodes.”

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