Suppression of Low-Frequency Electronic Noise in Polymer Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors

The authors report on the reduction of low-frequency noise in semiconductor polymer nanowires with respect to thin-films made of the same organic material. Flicker noise is experimentally investigated in polymer nanowires in the range of 10-10(5) Hz by means of field-effect transistor architectures. The noise in the devices is well described by the Hooge empirical model and exhibits an average Hooge constant, which describes the current power spectral density of fluctuations, suppressed by 1-2 orders of magnitude compared to thin-film devices. To explain the Hooge constant reduction, a resistor network model is developed, in which the organic semiconducting nanostructures or films are depicted through a two-dimensional network of resistors with a square-lattice structure, accounting for the different anisotropy and degree of structural disorder of the active nanowires and films. Results from modeling agree well with experimental findings. These results support enhanced structural order through size-confinement in organic nanostructures as effective route to improve the noise performance in polymer electronic devices.