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Nanocrystalline Silicon Diodes for Rectifiers on Flexible RFID Tags

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Ian Chi Yan Kwong ,
Hyun Jung Lee  and
Andrei Sazonov
Ian Chi Yan Kwong
Affiliation:
icykwong@engmail.uwaterloo.ca, University of Waterloo, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1, Waterloo, L3R 5G8, Canada
Hyun Jung Lee
Affiliation:
hyunjung@venus.uwaterloo.ca, University of Waterloo, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
Andrei Sazonov
Affiliation:
A.Sazonov@ece.uwaterloo.ca, University of Waterloo, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
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Abstract

There has been an on-going effort to produce low cost radio frequency identification (RFID) tags as a replacement for traditional barcodes. One method to achieve low cost production is to integrate the manufacturing of the substrate, antenna and active devices into one single continuous process. Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) is a suitable material for manufacturing the active devices in such a process.

We present a nc-Si:H diode suitable for use in rectifiers on RFID tags. It consists of a Cr bottom contact, an undoped layer of nc-Si:H, an n-doped nc-Si:H and an Al top contact. We demonstrate the current-voltage characteristics of the nc-Si:H diode are much improved over a-Si:H diodes. Current density of 10 A/cm2 and ON/OFF ratio greater than 106 was measured at 2 V forward bias. Output DC voltage of 2.6 V was achieved using four nc-Si:H diodes in a full-wave bridge rectifier. The input AC signal was a sine wave at 14 MHz and 2 VRMS amplitude.

Keywords

Sidevicesmicroelectronics
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1066: Symposium A – Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology—2008 , 2008 , 1066-A06-09
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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References

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