Papers by Author: Arun Anand Prabu

Abstract: Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based electrospun nanoweb fibers with outstanding piezo-, pyro- and ferroelectric behavior are being intensely studied by many researchers, especially for touch-sensor applications. In order to further improve the advantageous characteristics of PVDF nanoweb fibers, we focused our attention on studying the effect of filling PVDF solution with calculated amount of calcium chloride (CaCl2) or multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), and their electrospun nanoweb fibers were analyzed for the changes in β-crystalline phase, and its associated piezoelectric characteristics using a custom-made sensor set-up developed in our lab. FT-IR spectroscopy was used to confirm the changes in the β-crystalline content with varying content of CaCl2 and MWCNT. SEM data revealed the reducing fiber diameter with increasing CaCl2 content. PVDF nanoweb subjected to pressure showed changes in touch sensing property as analyzed using an oscilloscope integrated with Labview program. Overall, the PVDF nanoweb containing the additives used in our study exhibited greater sensitivity-in-touch for use in smart apparel applications compared to unmodified PVDF nanoweb, and the results are reported in detail here.

Abstract: In this study, the dipole switching and non-volatile memory functionality of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF/TrFE)(72/28 mol%) random copolymer ultrathin films were analyzed. PVDF/TrFE(72/28) used as ferroelectric insulator in varying memory device architectures such as metal-ferroelectric polymer-metal (MFM), MF-insulator-semiconductor (MFIS), MIS and ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFET) were examined using different electrical measurements. A maximum data writing speed of 1.69 MHz was calculated from the switching time measured using MFM architecture. Compared to MFM, MFIS device architecture was found to be more suitable for distinguishing the ‘0’ and ‘1’ state using the capacitance-voltage measurement. With FeFET, the measured drain current (Id) as well as its memory window increased with decreasing channel length, thereby enabling the easier identification of ‘0’ and ‘1’ state comparable to the MFIS case. The data obtained from this study will be useful in the fabrication of non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) devices operating at lower voltage with faster data R/W/E speed and memory retention capability.

Abstract: In this paper, the surface crystalline morphology and piezoelectricity of P(VDF/TrFE)(72/28) copolymer ultrathin films were studied using different scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to study the changes in their crystalline morphology with varying temperature conditions. From electric force microscopy (EFM) studies, the change in dipole moment vectors along the applied field direction and the resultant change in amplitude image for '1 or 0' state were monitored and used to 'write/erase and read' the data on the memory bit. These results indicate the possibility of using SPM-based high density data storage with these copolymer ultrathin films.