Charge Transport in Electronic Devices Printed with Inks of Quasi-1D van der Waals Materials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of printed electronic devices using inks of quasi-1D van der Waals materials, revealing electron hopping transport and phase transition effects relevant for printed electronics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to create inks from liquid-phase exfoliated TiS3 nanoribbons and analyzes their transport properties in printed devices, highlighting potential applications.

Findings

Electron transport is dominated by hopping mechanisms.

Low-frequency noise exhibits 1/f behavior near room temperature.

Phase transitions influence noise spectral density and transport regimes.

Abstract

We report on fabrication and characterization of electronic devices printed with inks of quasi-1D van der Waals materials. The quasi-1D van der Waals materials are characterized by 1D motifs in their crystal structure, which allows for their exfoliation into bundles of atomic chains. The ink was prepared by the liquid-phase exfoliation of crystals of TiS3 semiconductor into quasi-1D nanoribbons dispersed in a mixture of ethanol and ethylene glycol. The temperature dependent electrical measurements indicate that electron transport in the printed devices is dominated by the electron hopping mechanisms. The low-frequency electronic noise in the printed devices is of 1/f type near room temperature (f is the frequency). The abrupt changes in the temperature dependence of the noise spectral density and the spectrum itself can be indicative of the phase transition in individual TiS3 nanoribbons as well as modifications in the hopping transport regime. The obtained results attest to the potential of quasi-1D van der Waals materials for applications in printed electronics.