Low-power/high-gain flexible complementary circuits based on printed organic electrochemical transistors

TL;DR

This paper presents low-power, high-gain flexible circuits using printed complementary organic electrochemical transistors, enabling sensitive voltage amplification suitable for wearable and IoT applications with record performance metrics.

Contribution

It introduces the first low-power, high-gain flexible complementary OECT circuits with record voltage gain normalized to power, operating at low voltages and fabricated on flexible substrates.

Findings

Voltage sensing as low as 100 μV achieved

Power consumption below 2.7 μW for single-stage amplifier

Normalized gain exceeds 169 dB/μW, surpassing state-of-the-art

Abstract

The ability to accurately extract low-amplitude voltage signals is crucial in several fields, ranging from single-use diagnostics and medical technology to robotics and the Internet of Things. The organic electrochemical transistor, which features large transconductance values at low operation voltages, is ideal for monitoring small signals. Its large transconductance translates small gate voltage variations into significant changes in the drain current. However, a current-to-voltage conversion is further needed to allow proper data acquisition and signal processing. Low power consumption, high amplification, and manufacturability on flexible and low-cost carriers are also crucial and highly anticipated for targeted applications. Here, we report low-power and high-gain flexible circuits based on printed complementary organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). We leverage the low threshold voltage of both p-type and n-type enhancement-mode OECTs to develop complementary voltage amplifiers that can sense voltages as low as 100 $\mu$V, with gains of 30.4 dB and at a power consumption < 2.7 $\mu$W (single-stage amplifier). At the optimal operating conditions, the voltage gain normalized to power consumption reaches 169 dB/$\mu$W, which is > 50 times larger than state-of-the-art OECT-based amplifiers. In a two-stage configuration, the complementary voltage amplifiers reach a DC voltage gain of 193 V/V, which is the highest among emerging CMOS-like technologies operating at supply voltages below 1 volt. Our findings demonstrate that flexible complementary circuits based on printed OECTs define a power-efficient platform for sensing and amplifying low-amplitude voltage signals in several emerging beyond-silicon applications.