Low-temperature spray-deposited indium oxide for flexible thin-film transistors and integrated circuits

Abstract

Indium oxide (In2O3) films were deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis in ambient air and incorporated into bottom-gate coplanar and staggered thin-film transistors. As-fabricated devices exhibited electron-transporting characteristics with mobility values of 1 cm2V−1s−1 and 16 cm2V−1s−1 for coplanar and staggered architectures, respectively. Integration of In2O3 transistors enabled realization of unipolar inverters with high gain (5.3 V/V) and low-voltage operation. The low temperature deposition (≤250 °C) of In2O3 also allowed transistor fabrication on free-standing 50 μm-thick polyimide foils. The resulting flexible In2O3 transistors exhibit good characteristics and remain fully functional even when bent to tensile radii of 4 mm.