School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center and School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Sci Adv. 2022 Dec 23;8(51):eade4075. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ade4075.
Flexible radio frequency (RF) transistors play an important role in the fast-growing wearable smart sensors for data communication. However, the scaling capability and high-speed performance of the flexible transistor are far below the counterparts on rigid substrates, impeding the gigahertz high-speed applications. Here, we address the scaling and performance bottlenecks in flexible transistors by demonstrating natively flexible RF indium tin oxide transistors with deeply scaled 15-nm-long channel, capable of operating in the 10-GHz frequency range. The record-high cutoff frequency of 11.8 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency of 15 GHz can rival those on rigid substrates. Furthermore, the robustness of flexible RF transistors was examined, capable of enduring heavy-duty 10,000 bending cycles at 1-mm radius and extreme thermal stress from cryogenic temperature of 4.3 K and high temperature of 380 K.
灵活的射频 (RF) 晶体管在快速发展的用于数据通信的可穿戴智能传感器中发挥着重要作用。然而，与刚性衬底上的晶体管相比，灵活晶体管的缩放能力和高速性能要差得多，这阻碍了千兆赫高速应用的发展。在这里，我们通过展示具有深亚 15nm 沟道的本征柔性 RF 氧化铟锡晶体管，解决了灵活晶体管的缩放和性能瓶颈问题，这种晶体管能够在 10GHz 频率范围内工作。创纪录的 11.8GHz 截止频率和 15GHz 的最高振荡频率可与刚性衬底上的晶体管相媲美。此外，还检验了柔性 RF 晶体管的坚固性，它能够在半径为 1mm 的情况下承受 10000 次重载弯曲循环，以及在 4.3K 的极低温和 380K 的高温极端热应力下工作。
