Electrical conduction and noise spectroscopy of sodium-alginate gold-covered ultrathin films for flexible green electronics

Year: 2022

Authors: Barone C., Maccagnani P., Dinelli F., Bertoldo M., Capelli R., Cocchi M., Seri M., Pagano S.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Salerno, Dipartimento Fis ER Caianiello, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, I-84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy. Univ Salerno, CNR SPIN Salerno, I-84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy. Univ Salerno, Grp Collegato Salerno, Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, I-84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy. CNR Ist Microelettron & Microsistemi, Via P Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy. CNR Ist Nazl Ott, Via G Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy. Univ Ferrara, Dipartimento Sci Chim Farmaceut Agr, Via L Borsari 46, I-44121 Ferrara, Italy. CNR, Ist La Sintesi Organ & Fotoreatt, Via P Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy. Univ Modena & Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento Ingn E Ferrari, I-41125 Modena, Italy. CNR Ist Officina Mat, SS 14,Km 163-5 Area Sci Pk, I-34012 Trieste, Italy. Univ Johannesburg, Dept Phys, POB 524, ZA-2006 Auckland Pk, South Africa. CNR Ist Studio Mat Nanostrutturati ISMN, Via Piero Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

Abstract: Green electronics is an emerging topic that requires the exploration of new methodologies for the integration of green components into electronic devices. Therefore, the development of alternative and eco-friendly raw materials, biocompatible and biodegradable, is of great importance. Among these, sodium-alginate is a natural biopolymer extracted from marine algae having a great potential in terms of transparency, flexibility, and conductivity, when functionalized with a thin gold (Au) layer. The electrical transport of these flexible and conducting substrates has been studied, by DC measurements, from 300 to 10 K, to understand the interplay between the organic substrate and the metallic layer. The results were compared to reference bilayers based on polymethyl-methacrylate, a well-known polymer used in electronics. In addition, a detailed investigation of the electric noise properties was also performed. This analysis allows to study the effect of charge carriers fluctuations, providing important information to quantify the minimum metallic thickness required for electronic applications. In particular, the typical noise behavior of metallic compounds was observed in samples covered with 5 nm of Au, while noise levels related to a non-metallic conduction were found for a thickness of 4.5 nm, despite of the relatively good DC conductance of the bilayer.

Journal/Review: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

Volume: 12 (1)      Pages from: 9861-1  to: 9861-10

More Information: The authors would like to thank S. Abate of CNR-SPIN Salerno (Italy) for his technical support. University of Salerno has partially supported this work through grants 300391FRB19PAGAN and 300391FRB20BARON. INFN is also gratefully acknowledged through experiments SIMP, Qub-IT, and DARTWARS.
KeyWords: 1/F NOISE
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14030-2