한밭대학교

- Demonstrating the potential to improve organic memory performance through polymer structure systematization

□ Hanbat National University (President Oh Yong-jun) announced on the 25th that a co-authored research paper in which Professor Kim Min-hoe from the Department of Creative Convergence Engineering participated as a corresponding author was published online in 'Materials Horizons (Impact Factor 11.4)‘ an internationally renowned academic journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.

 ○ This study was conducted under the paper title of 'Molecule-in-Memory: A Multiscale Guideline for Polymeric Tunnelling Layers Linking Molecular Motifs to Electrical Outcomes' and Professor Kim Min-hoe and Professor Yuji Shibasaki a co-researcher from Iwate University in Japan participated as corresponding authors.

□ The research team presented design criteria for a polymer tunneling layer that plays a key role in electric field-based charge-storage organic non-volatile memory.

 ○ Organic charge-trap memory is drawing attention as a promising technology for implementing next-generation flexible and low-power electronic devices. However, systematic design guidelines linking the molecular structure of the polymer tunneling layer to actual device performance have been lacking until now.

 ○ Especially, while previous studies have focused on optimizing individual physical properties -such as dielectric constant, charge mobility, trap density and leakage current, this study suggested that the electrical characteristics of the polymer tunneling layer are determined not by a single physical property but by the interrelationships of multiple physical and chemical factors.

 ○ Through this approach, the team analyzed the process by which molecular-level structural motifs lead to macroscopic device performance such as memory window, on/off current ratio and data retention characteristics from a multiscale perspective.

□ The research team confirmed that key factors such as Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, dielectric constant, field-effect mobility, trap density, and leakage current can be balanced by applying P(DTDB-DB), a low-dielectric polymer with intrinsic microporous properties, as a tunneling layer.

 ○ The organic charge-trap memory with a P(DTDB-DB) tunneling layer showed improved memory window, on/off current ratio, and data retention characteristics compared to devices using conventional polymer dielectrics as tunneling layers.

 ○ In addition, it implemented multi-bit operation even under low-voltage driving conditions presenting the possibility of developing low-power and high-density organic memory devices in the future.

□ Professor Kim Min-hoe said, “This study is meaningful in that it systematically explained how the molecular structure and nano-scale physical properties of polymers are linked to the electrical performance of actual memory devices” and added “An approach that designs the balance of multiple nano-factors rather than simple enhancement of individual physical properties can become an important standard for improving the performance and securing the reliability of organic non-volatile memory.”

 ○ He also noted, “Organic memory devices can be linked to various application fields such as flexible electronic devices wearable systems and next-generation low-power information storage devices” and added “We expect that the polymer tunneling layer design strategy presented in this study will contribute to the expansion of future organic electronic devices and polymer-based semiconductor materials research.”

□ Meanwhile, this study was conducted with support from the Key Research Institutes Support Program of the Ministry of Education-National Research Foundation of Korea and the International Cooperation Program managed by the Ministry of Science and ICT-National Research Foundation of Korea.