We report the fabrication of polymer grid triodes (PGTs) using C-60 as
the semiconducting medium. The structure, a self-assembling porous co
nducting polyaniline network placed between two semiconducting layers
of C-60, and sandwiched between two metal electrodes, demonstrates the
I-V characteristics of a three terminal device in which the current i
s controlled by the grid potential. As a result of the higher mobiliti
es of the fullerenes compared to those of conjugated polymers, the ful
lerene devices offer some performance advantages; the operating voltag
es are less than 5 V with current densities exceeding 1 mA/cm(2). By f
abricating devices with different grid densities, it is shown that the
grid exhibits a strong influence on the I-V characteristics for high
grid densities, and a correspondingly low influence for low densities,
in agreement with theory. The I-V characteristics of the C-60 PGTs ar
e well described by an effective diode model, similar to that used for
vacuum triodes. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.