NSF Org:	ECCS Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Initial Amendment Date:	April 28, 2001
Latest Amendment Date:	April 28, 2001
Award Number:	0100611
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Venkata Mulpuri ECCS  Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems ENG  Directorate for Engineering
Start Date:	July 1, 2001
End Date:	June 30, 2003 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$77,759.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$77,759.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2001 = $77,759.00
History of Investigator:	Yang Yang (Principal Investigator) yangy@ucla.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of California-Los Angeles 10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700 LOS ANGELES CA  US  90024-4200 (310)794-0102
Sponsor Congressional District:	36
Primary Place of Performance:	University of California-Los Angeles 10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700 LOS ANGELES CA  US  90024-4200
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	36
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	RN64EPNH8JC6
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	EPMD-ElectrnPhoton&MagnDevices
Primary Program Source:	01000102DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	0000, OTHR
Program Element Code(s):	151700
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.041

ABSTRACT


Recently, we observed that organic semiconductor device shows strong bistable states with remarkably differing electrical conductivities when it is structure right. The transition from an electrically insulating state to a conducting state in the device is accompanied by a drastic increase in injection current by as much as six orders of magnitude. The retention of the high conductivity state was observed even after switching off the power. Furthermore, the low conductive states can be re-established by applying a negative voltage pulse. These discoveries pave the way for potential applications such as low-cost, large-area, electrically addressable high-density data storage devices, organic switches, and sensors. This newly invented organic device is significant for two reasons. First, this device uses organic insulators as the active material, thereby providing new options for organic electronic devices, which have been traditionally associated with organic semiconductors. Second, electronic memory is a very important component in all electronic devices such as computers, cell phones, PDAs etc. It is anticipated that the successful development of this device as memory cells will have a tremendous impact in the electronic industry. Unfortunately, the mechanism of this device, for example the sudden change in electrical conductivity at ~3V; and the reason behind the retention of the high conductivity state even after switching off the power, is not yet clearly understood. Our goal of this project is to gain the understanding of the organic bistable device, from both experimental and theoretical modeling approaches. Based on the obtained results, we will try to further improve device performance and to realize other applications.

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