A 3.3V 6b 100kS/s current-steering D/A converter using organic thin-film transistors on glass

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFT) processed at low-temperatures offer prospects for a vast number of integrated circuit applications in mechanically flexible, inexpensive, large-area and biomedical electronics. In addition, the low-voltage operation capability of recent OTFTs makes them well-suited for battery-powered or radio frequency-coupled portable devices. In such applications, data conversion to interface the digital processors with the analog world is an essential necessity. Here, we demonstrate a compact 6b current-steering D/A converter (DAC) circuit, built in OTFT technology, which is 1000χ faster and 30χ smaller than the previously published data for a 6b DAC. These considerable improvements result from an OTFT fabrication process based on silicon stencil masks that provide submicron channel length capability and excellent transistor matching.