Fully-printed high-performance organic thin-film transistors and circuitry on one-micron-thick polymer films.

Fukuda, Kenjiro; Takeda, Yasunori; Yoshimura, Yudai; Shiwaku, Rei; Tran, Lam Truc; Sekine, Tomohito; Mizukami, Makoto; Kumaki, Daisuke et al. · Nat Commun · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Thin, ultra-flexible devices that can be manufactured in a process that covers a large area will be essential to realizing low-cost, wearable electronic applications including foldable displays and medical sensors. The printing technology will be instrumental in fabricating these novel electronic devices and circuits; however, attaining fully printed devices on ultra-flexible films in large areas has typically been a challenge. Here we report on fully printed organic thin-film transistor devices and circuits fabricated on 1-μm-thick parylene-C films with high field-effect mobility (1.0 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) and fast operating speeds (about 1 ms) at low operating voltages. The devices were extremely light (2 g m(-2)) and exhibited excellent mechanical stability. The devices remained operational even under 50% compressive strain without significant changes in their performance. These results represent significant progress in the fabrication of fully printed organic thin-film transistor devices and circuits for use in unobtrusive electronic applications such as wearable sensors.