Flexible Electronics Based on InGaZnO Transparent Thin Film Transistors

There is increasing interest in use of conducting oxide materials in new forms of transparent, flexible or wearable electronics on cheap substrates, including paper. While Si-based thin film transistors (TFTs) are widely used in displays, there are some drawbacks such as light sensitivity and light degradation and low field effect mobility (<1 cm2/Vs). For example, virtually all liquid crystal displays (LCDs) use TFTs imbedded in the panel itself. One of the promising alternatives to use of Si TFTs involves amorphous or nanocrystalline n-type oxide semiconductors. There have been promising results with zinc oxide, indium gallium oxide and zinc tin oxide channels. In this paper, recent progress in these new materials for TFTs on substrates such as paper is reviewed. In addition, InGaZnO transistor arrays show promise for driving laminar electroluminescent, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and LCD displays. These transistors may potentially operate at up to an order of magnitude faster than Si TFTs. We have fabricated bottomgate amorphous (α-) indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (InGaZnO4) thin film transistors (TFTs) on both paper and glass substrates at low processing temperature (≤100°C). As a water and solvent barrier layer, cyclotene (BCB 3022-35 from Dow Chemical) was spin-coated on the entire paper substrate. TFTs on the paper substrates exhibited saturation mobility (μsat) of 1.2 cm2.V-1.s-1, threshold voltage (VTH) of 1.9V, subthreshold gate-voltage swing (S) of 0.65V.decade-1, and drain current onto- off ratio (ION/IOFFSubscript text) of ~104. These values were only slightly inferior to those obtained from devices on glass substrates (μsat~2.1 cm2.V-1.s-1, VTH ~0 V, S~0.74 V.decade-1, and ION/IOFF=105- 106). The uneven surface of the paper sheet led to relatively poor contact resistance between source-drain electrodes and channel layer. Future areas for development are identified.