A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate

There is increasing interest in affordable and flexible electronics, driven by the need for displays, conformable body sensors, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) gadgets. Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), transition metal oxides, and organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) have demonstrated cost-effective large-s...

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Main Authors: Shubham Ranjan, Sparsh Kapar, Czang-Ho Lee, William Wong, Manoj Sachdev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10970726/
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author Shubham Ranjan
Sparsh Kapar
Czang-Ho Lee
William Wong
Manoj Sachdev
author_facet Shubham Ranjan
Sparsh Kapar
Czang-Ho Lee
William Wong
Manoj Sachdev
author_sort Shubham Ranjan
collection DOAJ
description There is increasing interest in affordable and flexible electronics, driven by the need for displays, conformable body sensors, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) gadgets. Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), transition metal oxides, and organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) have demonstrated cost-effective large-scale production. As TFTs are typically unipolar in nature, they pose challenges for implementing CMOS-like circuits. Conventional methods to realize circuits in these technologies often lead to restricted voltage swing and excessive direct path current. While several methods have been proposed to counter the voltage swing issue, these methods fail to address the direct path current problem. This article presents low static-power D flip-flops (DFFs) using unipolar TFTs, which significantly reduces the direct path current. The proposed and conventional DFF designs were fabricated on a glass and flexible substrate using a-Si:H TFTs. Additionally, the impact of bending the flexible substrates was examined to assess the robustness and performance of the DFFs under mechanical strain. The measurement results show that the proposed design based DFF saves average total power by 79.8% compared to conventional design.
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series IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society
spelling doaj-art-2e59cb2f58c7444abaf9bbbf08b21fdf2025-08-20T03:11:21ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society2168-67342025-01-011340641310.1109/JEDS.2025.356257510970726A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible SubstrateShubham Ranjan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8623-6895Sparsh Kapar1https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1688-0272Czang-Ho Lee2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4424-0773William Wong3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7543-9761Manoj Sachdev4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8256-9828Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CanadaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CanadaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CanadaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CanadaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CanadaThere is increasing interest in affordable and flexible electronics, driven by the need for displays, conformable body sensors, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) gadgets. Amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), transition metal oxides, and organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) have demonstrated cost-effective large-scale production. As TFTs are typically unipolar in nature, they pose challenges for implementing CMOS-like circuits. Conventional methods to realize circuits in these technologies often lead to restricted voltage swing and excessive direct path current. While several methods have been proposed to counter the voltage swing issue, these methods fail to address the direct path current problem. This article presents low static-power D flip-flops (DFFs) using unipolar TFTs, which significantly reduces the direct path current. The proposed and conventional DFF designs were fabricated on a glass and flexible substrate using a-Si:H TFTs. Additionally, the impact of bending the flexible substrates was examined to assess the robustness and performance of the DFFs under mechanical strain. The measurement results show that the proposed design based DFF saves average total power by 79.8% compared to conventional design.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10970726/Thin film transistor (TFT)low power circuitsunipolar TFT circuitsflexible electronicsTFT logic circuitsD flip-flop (DFF)
spellingShingle Shubham Ranjan
Sparsh Kapar
Czang-Ho Lee
William Wong
Manoj Sachdev
A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate
IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society
Thin film transistor (TFT)
low power circuits
unipolar TFT circuits
flexible electronics
TFT logic circuits
D flip-flop (DFF)
title A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate
title_full A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate
title_fullStr A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate
title_full_unstemmed A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate
title_short A Low Static-Power D Flip-Flop With Unipolar Thin Film Transistors on a Flexible Substrate
title_sort low static power d flip flop with unipolar thin film transistors on a flexible substrate
topic Thin film transistor (TFT)
low power circuits
unipolar TFT circuits
flexible electronics
TFT logic circuits
D flip-flop (DFF)
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10970726/
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