Electrochemical Transistor Design for Neuromorphic and Biosensing Applications
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are the building blocks of bioelectronic circuits. They are uniquely able to transduce and amplify biological/neurological signals. Further, unlike traditional semiconductor materials, they display synaptic-like behavior similar to living neuronal circuits. Students engaged in this project will establish, test, and optimize OECT fabrication protocols. This will include designing device layouts in CAD software, fabricating shadow masks, vacuum deposition of metal electrodes by thermal or electron beam means, solution deposition of organic semiconductors with spin or blade coating, patterning/encapsulating metal and organic layers, characterizing device layer dimensions/morphology, measuring device current-voltage behavior.
Students should join this lab if they desire to be part of a young and energetic team studying cutting edge materials for electronic, biomedical, and energy applications. This project provides the opportunity to learn many fabrication and measurement tools used in research and industry. Adequate progress on this project will ensure co-authorship on papers employing the OECTs developed.