Read and Write Circuits for Ferroelectric Memory Using Printed Transistor Technologies

Abstract: Printed electronics holds the promise of adding intelligence to disposable objects. Low tem- perature additive manufacturing using low-cost substrates, less complex equipment and fewer processing steps allow drastically reduced cost compared to conventional silicon cir- cuits. Ferroelectric memories is a suitable technology for non-volatile storage in printed circuits. Printed organic thin film transistors can be used for logic. Another approach is to reduce the complexity of silicon manufacturing by substituting as many steps as possible for printed alternatives and substitute silicon wafers for cheaper substrates, one such process is printed dopant polysilicon. This thesis explores the possibility of designing circuits using these two transistor technologies for reading and writing ferroelectric memories. Both gen- eration of the voltage pulses necessary for memory operation from a lower supply voltage and the interpretation of the memory response as one of two states is investigated. It is con- cluded, with some reservations, that such circuitry can be implemented using the polysilicon process. Using organic thin film transistors only the latter functionality is shown, generation of the necessary voltage pulses is not achieved but also not completely precluded.