High-performance space-charge-limited transistors with well-ordered nanoporous aluminum base electrode

A large-area and periodically patterned nanoporous aluminum grid with controlled pore size was fabricated by poly(ethylene oxide)-assisted self-assembly of polystyrene nanospheres. The grid layer was used as the shadow mask for the creation of nanochannels in a polymeric dielectric layer, as well as the base electrode in a space-charge limited transistor prepared thereafter. A high performance device with poly(3-hexylthiophene) as conducting semiconductor was achieved, yielding a high on-current output of ∼12 mA/cm2 and a high on-off ratio of ∼2 × 104 at a collector voltage of −2.0 V.