Sulfur redox mediator for low-temperature flexible amorphous oxide CMOS electronics.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41134906.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adz6914 and PMC identifier 12551691.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Amorphous p-type oxides are essential for next-generation flexible and scalable complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. Among emerging candidates, tellurium-based oxides (Te-TeO<i><sub>x</sub></i>) show great promise due to their unique Te-Te conduction networks embedded within the amorphous TeO<sub>2</sub> matrix. However, controlled formation of these conduction channels remains challenging, limiting both hole transport and dopability under low thermal budgets. Here, we report a sulfur-mediated redox strategy that modulates the local bonding environment via TeO<sub>2</sub> dissociation and partial Te<sup>4+</sup> reduction, promoting formation of short-chain Te-Te networks. This enables high-performance p-channel thin-film transistors processed at an ultralow temperature of 120°C, exhibiting an average hole mobility of 11.5 cm<sup>2</sup> V<sup>-1</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> and on/off current ratios around 10<sup>6</sup> with high uniformity and reproducibility. Integration with n-type counterparts enables all-oxide CMOS circuits on both flexible and rigid substrates, including inverters with gain up to 1694, ring oscillators operating at 339 kHz, and large-scale functional circuits with rail-to-rail output.