i3N is hosting a joint scientific seminar presented by Dr. Radu A. Sporea and Dr. Eva Bestelink from the Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, UK. The session will take place on October 2, 2026, at 11h30, in the CENIMAT|i3N Amphitheater.
Source-gated transistors (SGTs) and multimodal transistors (MMTs) fall under the class of contact-controlled transistors (CCTs), which use low to moderate energy barriers at the source contact to control the drain current in the source-gate overlap region, rather than the channel. Thus, routes to obtaining device behavior and performance optimization differ from those associated with conventional Ohmic-contact thin-film transistors (TFTs).
Moreover, process conditions for engineering a rectifying contact in oxide semiconductors can pose a challenge to obtaining contact-controlled device operation and expected saturation behaviour (low saturation voltage, flat output characteristics). This talk will review device operation and illustrate the application of the design rules to several applications in analog and mixed-mode thin-film circuits with improved energy efficiency and reliability.
Dr. Radu A. Sporea is Associate Professor in Semiconductor Devices at the University of Surrey and holds an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship (2021-2026). His research focuses on advanced thin-film transistors for improved manufacturability, large-area sensors, paper-based electronics, and physical-digital interaction. He was awarded the SID Ben Sturgeon Award in 2025 and served as chair of the IEEE EDS UK and Ireland chapter (2022-2024).
Dr. Eva Bestelink is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Surrey, specializing in thin-film transistors (TFTs) and circuits for large-area electronics, notably source-gated transistors (SGTs) and the multimodal transistor (MMT). She received her PhD in 2022 and was awarded the IET Postgraduate Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Engineering. She is currently on the InnovateUK ICURe Exploit programme for technology commercialization.