Solution processed molecular floating gate for flexible flash memories

Solution processed fullerene (C(60)) molecular floating gate layer has been employed in low voltage nonvolatile memory device on flexible substrates. We systematically studied the charge trapping mechanism of the fullerene floating gate for both p-type pentacene and n-type copper hexadecafluorophthalocyanine (F(16)CuPc) semiconductor in a transistor based flash memory architecture. The devices based on pentacene as semiconductor exhibited both hole and electron trapping ability, whereas devices with F(16)CuPc trapped electrons alone due to abundant electron density. All the devices exhibited large memory window, long charge retention time, good endurance property and excellent flexibility. The obtained results have great potential for application in large area flexible electronic devices.