The main goal of the field of neuromorphic computing is to build machines that emulate aspects of the brain in its ability to perform complex tasks in parallel and with great energy efficiency. Thanks to new computing architectures, these machines could revolutionize high-performance computing and find applications to perform local, low-energy computing for sensors and robots. The use of organic and soft materials in neuromorphic computing is appealing in many respects, for instance, because it allows better integration with living matter to seamlessly meld sensing with signal processing, and ultimately, stimulation in a closed-feedback loop. Indeed, not only can the mechanical properties of organic materials match those of tissue, but also, the working mechanisms of these devices involving ions, in addition to electrons, are compatible with human physiology. Another advantage of organic materials is the potential to introduce novel fabrication techniques relying on additive manufacturing amenable to one-of-a-kind form factors. This field is still nascent, therefore many concepts are still being proposed, without a clear winner. Furthermore, the field of application of organic neuromorphics, where bioinspiration and biointegration are extremely appealing, calls for a co-design approach from materials to systems.

Bioelectronics aims to design electronic devices which can be fully integrated within tissues to monitor or stimulate specific cell functions. The main challenge is the engineering of the cell–chip interface and diverse materials, and devices have been developed to recapitulate biological architectures and functionalities. In this Prospective article, the authors give an overview on how the bioelectronics community has exploited biomimetic approaches to emulate cell morphologies, interactions, and functions to design optimal electrical platforms to be coupled to living cells.

The patterning of gold and silver micro and nanostructures on rigid and flexible substrates is investigated by microcontact printed thiol based self-assembled monolayers. The aspect ratio of the noble metal micro and nanostructures is determined by interaction of the -SH head group of the CH3(CH2)19SH molecules and the surface of the noble metal. Silver micro and nanostructures with >10 times higher aspect ratios can be realized in comparison to commonly realized gold micro and nanostructures. The printing process is described, and the etching process is characterized in terms of etching window and etching selectivity. Potential electronic and photonic applications of the micro and nanostructures are discussed taking the boundary conditions of the printing process and the selected material system into consideration.

The effect of p-type doping at ultra-low concentrations (~10−4–10−5 monomer mol fraction) of the polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is studied using charge modulation (CM) spectroscopy. Quantitative analysis of CM spectra of doped P3HT show that dopants induce measurable changes in the P3HT local chain conformation. We find that the dopants reside in both the aggregate and amorphous regions of the polymer, not just in the amorphous regions, as previously assumed. With increased doping, the P3HT intrachain disorder grows, causing the P3HT chains to become more oligomer-like, which we postulate leads to the drop in mobility commonly observed in literature.

Electronic performance in semiconducting polymers has improved dramatically in recent years owing to a host of novel materials and processing techniques. Our understanding of the factors governing charge transport in these materials has also been enhanced through advancements in both experimental and computational techniques, with disorder appearing to play a central role. In this prospective, we propose that disorder is an inextricable aspect of polymer morphology which need not be highly detrimental to charge transport if it is embraced and planned for. We discuss emerging guidelines for the synthesis of polymers which are resilient to disorder and present our vision for how future advances in processing and molecular design will provide a path toward further increases in charge-carrier mobility.

Interfacing organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) with biological systems holds considerable promise for building-sensitive biosensors and diagnostic tools. We present a simple model that describes the performance of biosensors in which an OECT is integrated with a biological barrier layer. Using experimentally derived parameters we explore the limits of sensitivity and find that it is dependent on the resistance of the barrier layer. This work provides guidelines on how to optimize biosensors in which OECTs transduce changes in the impedance of biological layers, including lipid bilayer membranes and confluent cell layers.

This article explores the growth of graphene under low-pressure Ar conditions. Carbon- and silicon-face 4H–SiC samples are subjected to epitaxial graphene growth at 1600 °C in vacuum, in 1 mbar argon, or in 10 mbar of argon. High-resolution x-ray scattering is used to characterize all graphene films. On the C-face, specular scans reveal a bimodal distribution of thicknesses that decrease with increasing Ar pressure. Thin and thick regions are approximately 15 and 46 monolayers in C-face graphene grown at high vacuum, 14 and 42 monolayers thick in graphene grown at 1 mbar, and 12 and 32 monolayers thick in graphene grown at 10 mbar. Azimuthal scans confirm in all cases that graphene layers are epitaxial and display expected crystallographic relationships with the underlying SiC substrate. In-plane azimuthal scans show the rotational disorder increases as pressure increases. Peaks in radial scans are asymmetric, suggesting the grain structure has a bimodal distribution of large and small domains. The sample displaying the lowest average Hall mobility (grown at 1 mbar) has the largest population of small crystallites (coherence length on the order of ∼30 nm). Variations in structure and mobility of C-face graphene are attributed to inadequate control of Si sublimation during growth.

We describe our efforts to control the grain boundary alignment in polycrystalline thin films of silicon by using a biaxially textured template layer of CaF2 for photovoltaic device applications. We have chosen CaF2 as a candidate material due to its close lattice match with silicon and its suitability as an ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) material. We show that the CaF2 aligns biaxially at a thickness of ~10 nm and, with the addition of an epitaxial CaF2 layer, has an in-plane texture of ~15°. Deposition of a subsequent layer of Si aligns on the template layer with an in-plane texture of 10.8°. The additional improvement of in-plane texture is similar to the behavior observed in more fully characterized IBAD materials systems. A germanium buffer layer is used to assist in the epitaxial deposition of Si on CaF2 template layers and single crystal substrates. These experiments confirm that an IBAD template can be used to biaxially orient polycrystalline Si.

An overview of recent work on the connection between electrical and molecular properties of semiconducting polymers for thin-film transistors (TFTs) is presented. A description of the molecular packing and microstructure of amorphous to semicrystalline semiconducting polymers is presented. The features of basic models for electrical transport in TFTs are discussed. These studies indicate that defect states and traps are as important as ordered domains for understanding transport in semiconducting polymers. Advanced methods, such as electric force microscopy, useful for measuring the characteristics of defect states and charge traps, are briefly reviewed.

InGaN-based optoelectronics were integrated with dissimilar substrate materials using a novel thin-film laser lift-off (LLO) process. The LLO process was employed to integrate InGaN-based laser diodes (LDs) with Cu and diamond substrates. Separation of InGaN-based thin-film devices from their typical sapphire growth substrates was accomplished using a pulsed excimer laser in the ultraviolet regime incident through the transparent substrate. Characterization of the LDs before and after the sapphire substrate removal revealed no measurable degradation in device performance. Reduced threshold currents and increased differential quantum efficiences were measured for LDs on Cu due to a 50% reduction of the thermal impedence. Light output for LDs on Cu was two times greater than comparable LDs on sapphire with a maximum output of 100 mW. Increased light output for LDs on diamond was also measured with a maximum output of 80 mW.