Transferred wrinkled Al2O3 for highly stretchable and transparent graphene–carbon nanotube transistors

Abstract

Despite recent progress in producing transparent and bendable thin-film transistors using graphene and carbon nanotubes, the development of stretchable devices remains limited either by fragile inorganic oxides or polymer dielectrics with high leakage current. Here we report the fabrication of highly stretchable and transparent field-effect transistors combining graphene/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) electrodes and a SWCNT-network channel with a geometrically wrinkled inorganic dielectric layer. The wrinkled Al2O3 layer contained effective built-in air gaps with a small gate leakage current of 10(-13) A. The resulting devices exhibited an excellent on/off ratio of ~10(5), a high mobility of ~40 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and a low operating voltage of less than 1 V. Importantly, because of the wrinkled dielectric layer, the transistors retained performance under strains as high as 20% without appreciable leakage current increases or physical degradation. No significant performance loss was observed after stretching and releasing the devices for over 1,000 times. The sustainability and performance advances demonstrated here are promising for the adoption of stretchable electronics in a wide variety of future applications.

Stretchable organic memory: toward learnable and digitized stretchable electronic applications

“…[3][4][5] Future 'intelligent' stretchable electronic modules will require the integration of multiple crucial electronic devices, such as logic memory, a power supply and a display, into an elastic polymeric substrate. 2 So far, successful progress toward stretchable electronics has been reported for various core electronic devices, such as transistors, 6,7 light-emitting diodes, 8,9 sensors, 10,11 antennas, 12 solar cells 13,14 and batteries. 15,16 In digital applications, information storage devices, such as programmable read-only memory and flash memory, have key roles as fundamental components in modern and future 'smart' electronic systems.…”

Recent Progress in Electronic Skin

“…Hence, many studies on transistor arrays have been performed to obtain large‐scale and flexible pressure sensor arrays for intelligent artificial e‐skin and wearable devices. [[qv: 6a]],23, 53, A series of fabrication techniques has been developed, including photolithography and printing processes,[[qv: 14b]],54 and different types of active channel materials have been investigated, including inorganic crystalline semiconductors,[[qv: 15b]] organics,55 graphene,56 NWs,57 and carbon nanotubes,[[qv: 52a]],58 each of which offers distinct advantages in the characteristic transistor parameters, such as carrier mobility, operating voltage, and on/off current ratio. For example, the organic field‐effect transistor (OFET) exhibits higher flexibility and lower preparation cost but has lower carrier mobility and larger operating voltages compared with those constructed of inorganic semiconductors.…”

Fabrication and Characterizations of Stretchable Thin-Film Transistor using Parylene Gate Insulating Layer

“…현재까지 보고되고 있는 신축성 트랜지스터를 개발하기 위한 방법을 정리하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, SOI(silicon on insulator) 기판 위에 포토 리소그래피, 도핑 등 널리 알려진 반 도체 공정을 그대로 이용하여 소자를 제작하고, 이를 인장된 신 축성 기판 위에 전사시킨 후 미리 인가한 인장력을 제거함으로써 생성되는 주름구조를 이용하는 방법 [1,10,11] …”