Radio-Frequency Operation of Transparent Nanowire Thin-Film Transistors

Abstract

In this letter, radio-frequency characterization of fully transparent thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on chemically synthesized nanowires (NWs) has been carried out. The NW TFTs show current-gain cutoff frequency f T of 109 MHz and powergain cutoff frequency f max of 286 MHz. The TFTs were fabricated on glass substrates using aligned SnO 2 NWs as the transistor channel and sputtered indium-tin-oxide films as the source-drain and gate electrodes. Besides exhibiting > 100-MHz operation frequencies, the transparent NW TFTs show a narrow distribution of performance metrics among different devices. These results suggest the NW-TFT approach may be promising for high-speed transparent and flexible integrated circuits fabricated on diverse substrates.

Fully transparent flexible transistors built on metal oxide nanowires

“…For example, Lu et al fabricated fully transparent nanowire TFTs on glass substrate by using VLS-grown SnO 2 nanowires as the transistor active channel materials [63]. For the device built on aligned SnO 2 nanowire arrays, a current-gain cutoff frequency of 109 MHz and a power-gain cutoff frequency of 286 MHz were obtained.…”

Nanowire nanocomputer as a finite-state machine

“…Therefore, much effort has been invested in the nanoelectronics field for the development of novel, alternative, nanometer-scale electronic device and fabrication technologies that could serve as potential routes for ever-denser and more capable systems to enable continued technological and economic advancement (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). These efforts have yielded simple nanoelectronic circuits (3)(4)(5)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) and more complex circuit systems (6, 7) that use novel nanomaterials but are not integrated on the nanometer scale. In this regard, building a nanocomputer that transcends the ultimate scaling limitations of conventional semiconductor electronics has been a central goal of the nanoscience field and a long-term objective of the computing industry.…”

Demonstration of radio-frequency response of amorphous IGZO thin film transistors on the glass substrate

“…However, conventional metal oxide TFT fabrication has the source/drain metal contact the semiconductor directly. Therefore, a poor pinch-off characteristics are often observed in short channel, high current density metal oxide TFTs [8,9,[11][12][13]. The transfer curve in Fig.…”

“…Recently, the RF performance of metal oxide based transistors was explored using small gate length devices [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Nanocrystalline ZnO TFTs fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at 400°C on GaAs or high resistivity Si substrates have demonstrated mobility over 100 cm 2 /V s, current density >400 mA/mm, and high frequency response (current gain cutoff frequency f T = 2.45 GHz, maximum frequency of oscillation f max = 7.45 GHz) [8,9].…”

“…However, the epitaxial technologies and single crystal substrates are not compatible with low-cost large area fabrication processes. In addition, due to the low current driving capability, the reported f T and f max of amorphous oxide channel devices are typically limited to 200-300 MHz [11][12][13][14], respectively.…”