Rectifying behavior of organic electrochemical transistors

In organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), the effective coupling of ionic and electronic charge carriers enables efficient modulation of current flow through an organic channel layer. This charge coupling imparts OECTs with unique properties, including high transconductance and low-voltage operation. Another distinctive characteristic of OECTs is the significant asymmetry observed in output curves at positive and negative drain biases. Despite extensive research on various properties of OECTs, the asymmetry in their output curves has received limited attention. This asymmetry is an inherent property of OECTs, stemming from their operational mechanism, and can be harnessed to create a new type of current rectifiers that can be classified as organic electrochemical rectifiers (OERs). In this study, we investigate the current rectification mechanism in OECTs and demonstrate that single accumulation-mode OECT can function as polarity-switchable rectifier. Utilizing Bernard's model for OECTs, we analyzed the rectification properties of OECTs and tested the rectification behavior of OECTs based on a poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) channel layer. This study provides insight on rectification behavior of OECTs, which allow expanding their functionality.