Transfer Printing Approach to All-Carbon Nanoelectronics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a transfer printing method to create all-carbon nanoelectronic devices, enabling flexible, transparent CNT transistors with performance comparable to metal-electrode devices.

Contribution

It introduces a transfer printing technique for assembling all-carbon CNT transistors on flexible substrates, advancing flexible nanoelectronics fabrication.

Findings

CNT transistors show mobility of 1-33 cm^2/Vs

On/off ratio around 10^3

Devices are flexible and transparent

Abstract

Transfer printing methods are used to pattern and assemble monolithic carbon nanotube (CNT) thin-film transistors on large-area transparent, flexible substrates. Airbrushed CNT thin-films with sheet resistance 1kOhmsquare^{-1} at 80% transparency were used as electrodes, and high quality chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown CNT networks were used as the semiconductor component. Transfer printing was used to pre-pattern and assemble thin film transistors on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates which incorporated Al_{2}O_{3}/poly-methylmethacrylate (PMMA) dielectric bi-layer. CNT-based ambipolar devices exhibit field-effect mobility in range 1 - 33 cm^{2}/Vs and on/off ratio ~10^{3}, comparable to the control devices fabricated using Au as the electrode material.