Department of Electrical Engineering and Institute for Nano Science, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
Nanotechnology. 2009 Dec 16;20(50):505201. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/20/50/505201. Epub 2009 Nov 12.
Flexible electronic devices which are lightweight, thin and bendable have attracted increasing attention in recent years. In particular, solution processes have been spotlighted in the field of flexible electronics, since they provide the opportunity to fabricate flexible electronics using low-temperature processes at low-cost with high throughput. However, there are few reports which describe the characteristics of electronic devices on flexible substrates. In this study, we fabricated flexible thin-film transistors (TFTs) on plastic substrates with channel layers formed by the spin-coating of ZnO nanoparticles and investigated their electrical properties in the flat and bent states. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to fabricate fully functional ZnO TFTs on flexible substrates through the solution process. The ZnO TFTs showed n-channel device characteristics and operated in enhancement mode. In the flat state, a representative ZnO TFT presented a very low field-effect mobility of 1.2 x 10(-5) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), while its on/off ratio was as high as 1.5 x 10(3). When the TFT was in the bent state, some of the device parameters changed. The changes of the device parameters and the possible reasons for these changes will be described. The recovery characteristics of the TFTs after being subjected to cyclic bending will be discussed as well.
近年来，轻巧、超薄且可弯曲的柔性电子设备受到了越来越多的关注。特别是，溶液处理方法在柔性电子领域受到了特别关注，因为它提供了使用低温工艺在低成本下以高产量制造柔性电子产品的机会。然而，很少有报道描述在柔性衬底上的电子设备的特性。在这项研究中，我们使用旋涂法在塑料衬底上制造了具有由 ZnO 纳米粒子形成的沟道层的柔性薄膜晶体管（TFT），并研究了它们在平坦和弯曲状态下的电性能。据我们所知，这项研究首次尝试通过溶液处理在柔性衬底上制造全功能的 ZnO TFT。ZnO TFT 表现出 n 沟道器件特性，并以增强模式工作。在平坦状态下，一个典型的 ZnO TFT 表现出非常低的场效应迁移率为 1.2 x 10(-5) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)，而其开关比高达 1.5 x 10(3)。当 TFT 处于弯曲状态时，一些器件参数发生了变化。将描述器件参数的变化及其可能的原因。还将讨论经受循环弯曲后 TFT 的恢复特性。
