Fabrication Of Field-effect Transistors Research Articles

Facile and reliable route to ensure chemical-environmental stability of pen-printed organic transistors with blended polymer Semiconductor–Insulator

We have introduced an efficient pen-printing method for solution-process fabrication of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Although polymer semiconductors used in this method are promising materials that provide electrical properties with mechanical flexibility, they have drawbacks such as poor long-term driving stability or dramatically decreased electrical performance under chemical environments. Herein we applied the spontaneous phase separation in blended polymers of poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine] (PTAA) and polystyrene (PS) as model semiconducting and protective polymers, respectively. A protective PS layer spontaneously formed on top of the PTAA layer, preventing direct exposure to chemical molecules and thus greatly improving long-term driving stability under ambient, high-humidity, and even ethanol vapor conditions. Even under the harshest ethanol vapor condition, the average field-effect mobility (μFET) of the PTAA + PS-blend FETs were maintained at 76% or more, and the threshold voltage showed only a small change of ±1.1 V over the range of vacuum, ambient, 75% humidity, and ethanol vapor conditions. Furthermore, μFETs of the PTAA + PS-blend FETs showed a low range of variation of about ±10% during 50 repeated measurements over 100 min under all conditions. The result suggests an efficient way forming a protective layer without an additional deposition step to secure the chemical and environmental stabilities of practical electronics.

Visible-Light-Activated Response Originating from Carrier-Mobility Modulation of NO2 Gas Sensors Based on MoS2 Monolayers.

Some gas sensors exhibit significant increases in their sensitivity and response/recovery rates under light illumination. This photoactivation of the gas response is considered a promising alternative to conventional thermal activation, which requires high power consumption. Thin layers of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) are known to exhibit an effective photoactivated gas response under visible light. However, the mechanism of the photoactivated response has not yet been studied in detail. In this study, we fabricated field-effect-transistor (FET) gas sensors based on MoS2 monolayers and investigated their photoactivated gas responses to NO2 gas under illumination at various irradiances of visible light. A photocurrent was generated mainly due to the photovoltaic effect, which decreased upon exposure to NO2. The conductance-based sensor response showed a dependence on NO2 concentration according to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, thereby suggesting that the response is proportional to the surface coverage of NO2 molecules on the MoS2 layer. The response and recovery rates showed a linear increase with increasing irradiance. Analysis based on the Langmuir adsorption model revealed that both photostimulated adsorption and desorption are involved in the photoactivated response. In contrast, despite the strong dependence of the photocurrent on the irradiance, the magnitude of the sensor response was independent of the irradiance. Based on this result and the change in transfer characteristics of the FET during NO2 exposure, we concluded that the fast response/recovery of the photoactivated response is due to the carrier mobility modulation of MoS2, which is caused by the dipole scattering of adsorbed NO2 molecules.

Fabrication of Glutathione-S-Transferase–ZnO Nanoconjugate Ensemble FET Device for Detection of Glutathione

This article reports fabrication and characterization of field effect transistor (FET) device consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle–glutathione-S-transferase (GST) composite channel for successful in vitro detection and quantification of glutathione (GSH) in solution and in cancerous cell. The functionalized channel layer is synthesized by means of electrostatic binding between ZnO nanoparticles and GST. Detection of glutathione can be confirmed by the change in output current characteristics of the device in real time whenever the conjugation reaction between GSH and 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) in the presence of GST takes place on the channel of the device. The characterized device had a sensitivity of $60.22~\mu \text{A}$ /dec and limit of detection (LoD) of 43.96 nM. Thus, from the device characteristics, GSH could be quantified. Subsequently, laboratory grown HeLa, MCF-7 (both cancerous), and human embryonic kidney (HEK-noncancerous) cells were characterized with the fabricated device and both the cancerous cells resulted in significantly higher drain current compared to noncancerous HEK cells. The fabricated device resulted in a sensitivity of 210.86 nA/cell and LoD of 30 cells when characterized with HeLa cells. This detection paves way for a device-based early detection scheme for cancer by measuring the GSH concentration in human cell cytosol.

Transfer-Free Synthesis of Atomically Precise Graphene Nanoribbons on Insulating Substrates.

The rational bottom-up synthesis of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) provides atomically precise control of widths and edges that give rise to a wide range of electronic properties promising for electronic devices such as field-effect transistors (FETs). Since the bottom-up synthesis commonly takes place on catalytic metallic surfaces, the integration of GNRs into such devices requires their transfer onto insulating substrates, which remains one of the bottlenecks in the development of GNR-based electronics. Herein, we report on a method for the transfer-free placement of GNRs on insulators. This involves growing GNRs on a gold film deposited onto an insulating layer followed by gentle wet etching of the gold, which leaves the nanoribbons to settle in place on the underlying insulating substrate. Scanning tunneling microscopy and Raman spectroscopy confirm that atomically precise GNRs of high density uniformly grow on the gold films deposited onto SiO2/Si substrates and remain structurally intact after the etching process. We have also demonstrated transfer-free fabrication of ultrashort channel GNR FETs using this process. A very important aspect of the present work is that the method can scale up well to 12 in. wafers, which is extremely difficult for previous techniques. Our work here thus represents an important step toward large-scale integration of GNRs into electronic devices.

Energy-driven multi-step structural phase transition mechanism to achieve high-quality p-type nitrogen-doped β-Ga2O3 films

It is a big challenge to grow β-Ga2O3 films of good p-type conductivity and stability due to the large acceptor ionization energy, strong hole-trapping effect, low hole mobility, and self-compensation effects. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time the success in the growth of high-quality p-type N-doped β-Ga2O3 films with an acceptor ionization energy of 0.165 eV, Hall resistivity of 17.0 Ωcm, Hall hole mobility of 23.6 cm2V−1s−1, hole concentration of 1.56 × 1016 cm−3 and good stability, and in the fabrication of high-performance p-type β-Ga2O3 films-based field effect transistors. The success paves the way to fabricate full β-Ga2O3 films based p-n diodes and will advance the applications of next-generation high-performance β-Ga2O3-based optoelectronic and electronic devices. In addition, we discover the growth mechanism of multi-step structural phase transitions from hexagonal P63mc GaN to rhombohedral R3¯c α-GaNxO3(1-x)/2 and finally to monolithic C2/m N-doped β-Ga2O3, which improves the crystalline quality, facilitates the acceptor doping, increases the acceptor activation efficiency, and thus enhances the p-type conductivity and stability of the N-doped β-Ga2O3 films. The novel p-type oxide film growth technique and mechanism open a new horizon to the other wide bandgap oxide semiconductors.

High performance ionic-liquid-gated air doped diamond field-effect transistors

We report successful fabrication of high performance ion-gated field-effect transistors (FETs) on hydrogenated diamond surface. Investigations on the hydrogen (H)-terminated diamond by Hall effect measurements shows Hall mobility as high as ∼200 cm2 V−1 s−1. In addition we demonstrate a rapid fabrication scheme for achieving stable high performance devices useful for determining optimal growth and fabrication conditions. We achieved H-termination using hydrogen plasma treatment with a sheet resistivity as low as ∼1.3 kΩ/sq. Conductivity through the FET channel is studied as a function of bias voltage on the liquid ion-gated electrode from −3.0 to 1.5 V. Stability of the H-terminated diamond surface was studied by varying the substrate temperature up to 350 °C. It was demonstrated that the sheet resistance and carrier densities remain stable over 3 weeks in ambient air atmosphere even at substrate temperatures up to 350 °C, whereas increasing temperature beyond this limit has effected hydrogenation. This study opens new avenues for carrying out fundamental research on diamond FET devices with ease of fabrication and high throughput.

Growth of Very Large MoS2 Single Crystals Using Out-Diffusion Transport and Their Use in Field Effect Transistors

Monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is an attractive 2D material with a wide range of potential applications in the field of electronics and optoelectronics. To obtain the best performance, it is very necessary to grow large area single crystals of MoS2 (single domain) to avoid the effects of grain boundaries, but is exceptionally challenging to do this. Here, we report a novel method which we call out-diffusion vapor transport to grow large area single crystal monolayer MoS2 using an otherwise conventional chemical vapor deposition system. In this method, microchannels were created on the boat to significantly limit the region where MoOx vapor can react with S vapor to form crystals. This growth method resulted in triangular monolayer MoS2 single crystals up to ∼640 μm on a side grown on an oxidized silicon substrate, the largest crystals reported to date. Most of these crystals were multilayer at the center. This common feature has been identified in the literature as partially reduced transition metal oxide nucleates a second layer. We also achieved fully monolayer MoS2 single crystals up to ∼450 μm on a side, the largest demonstrated without the MoOx. Fabricated field effect transistors (FET) using MoS2 monolayer crystal as the active layer demonstrate a conventional n-type behavior, room-temperature mobility up to 45.5 cm2 V−1 s−1 and a maximum ON-Current (ION)/OFF-current (IOFF) ratio of 1.8 × 107. Raman and Photoluminescence results indicate that the as-grown large area monolayer crystals have high crystalline quality and uniformity with minimal defects, a finding that is consistent with the high electron mobility. This research work provides a superior technique to grow large-area high-quality single-crystal monolayer MoS2 without resorting to exotic equipment or techniques.

Fabrication of solution-processed ambipolar electrolyte-gated field effect transistors from a MoS2–polymer hybrid for multifunctional optoelectronics

An ambipolar electrolyte-gated field effect transistor based on a MoS2–polymer hybrid was achieved as an inverter and a modulator.

“Dragging mode” electrohydrodynamic jet printing of polymer-wrapped semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes for NO gas-sensing field-effect transistors

In this study, we investigated facile “dragging mode” electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing of a polymer-wrapped semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) ink, for fabrication of NO gas-sensing field-effect transistors (FETs).

Perfluoroalkylated alternating copolymer possessing solubility in fluorous liquids and imaging capabilities under high energy radiation.

A highly fluorinated alternating polymer, P(RFMi-St), possessing improved thermal properties and patterning capabilities over perfluoroalkyl polymethacrylates under high energy radiation was achieved with semi-perfluorododecyl maleimide (RFMi) and styrene (St). RFMi could be synthesised efficiently via a Mitsunobu reaction condition and copolymerised with St by free radical and reversible-deactivation radical polymerisation protocols. P(RFMi-St) showed a satisfactory glass-transition temperature (108 °C) and intermolecular cross-linking behaviour under electron-beam and commercially more important extreme UV (λ = 13.5 nm) irradiation. The exposed regions lost their solubility, resulting in the successful formation of mechanically non-deteriorated negative-tone images down to 50 nm. In addition, P(RFMi-St) could be solution-processed with chemically non-damaging fluorous liquids, which enabled the polymer to be applied effectively on top of an organic semiconductor layer as a dielectric material (dielectric constant 2.7) for the organic field-effect transistor fabrication.

Electrodeposited nickel nanowires for magnetic-field effect transistor (MagFET)

The growing interest in magnetic nanowires (NWs) is connected to possibility of employing them for advanced applications in wide technological fields, such as data storage and biotechnology. In addition, NWs can be used as sensor devices for several applications, since they present high sensitivity to their environment. One of the major challenges when dealing with transport measurements in NWs is to trap them between electrodes, which allows electrical characterization and therefore fabrication of nanowire-based devices. Electrically neutral NWs can be deposited by dielectrophoresis (DEP) method, which requires the application of an alternating electric field between electrodes. In this work, Ni nanowires (NiNWs) fabricated by electrodeposition technique and properly dispersed in a dimethylformalmide (DMF) solution were deposited on top of Pt electrodes using the DEP method. The deposited NiNWs exhibit initially a Schottky-like current versus voltage behavior due to the high contact resistance between NiNW and electrode. Its reduction down to three orders of magnitude, reaching value less than the NiNW resistance, was achieved by depositing an ion beam-assisted 10 nm-thick Pt layer over the NWs extremities. Therefore, this method presents a suitable process of NWs deposition and electrical characterization. This can be used for investigation of electrical transport properties of individual NWs and fabrication of NWsbased devices, such as sensors and field-effect transistors. Especially for ferromagnetic NWs, one can use the present method for fabrication of magnetic field-effect transistors (MagFET).

P-GaN Gated AlGaN/GaN E-mode HFET Fabricated with Selective GaN Etching Process

An O₂ based selective GaN etching process was developed herein for use in p-GaN gated AlGaN/GaN heterojunction field-effect transistor fabrication, where precise control of the p-GaN etching was an important process step that determined the device characteristics. The p-GaN layer was etched by a two-step process: low damage BCl₃/Cl₂ plasma etching in conjunction with Cl₂/N₂/O₂ based selective etching. A high selectivity of 53:1 for the p-GaN:AlGaN was achieved by the Cl₂/N₂/O₂ plasma etching. The device fabricated by the optimized etching process exhibited excellent enhancement-mode characteristics, i.e., a threshold voltage of 2.45 V, a specific on-resistance of 5.55 mΩ·cm², an on/off ratio of ~109, and an off-state breakdown voltage of >1100 V.

Dielectrophoresis-Based Positioning of Carbon Nanotubes for Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube Devices

In this paper, we report the wafer-scale fabrication of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) with the dielectrophoresis (DEP) method. Semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were positioned as the active channel material in the fabrication of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) with dielectrophoresis (DEP). The drain-source current (IDS) was measured as a function of the drain-source voltage (VDS) and gate-source voltage (VGS) from each CNTFET on the fabricated wafer. The IDS on/off ratio was derived for each CNTFET. It was found that 87% of the fabricated CNTFETs was functional, and that among the functional CNTFETs, 30% of the CNTFETs had an IDS on/off ratio larger than 20 while 70% of the CNTFETs had an IDS on/off ratio lower than 20. The highest IDS on/off ratio was about 490. The DEP-based positioning of carbon nanotubes is simple and effective, and the DEP-based device fabrication steps are compatible with Si technology processes and could lead to the wafer-scale fabrication of CNT electronic devices.

Low-Temperature Self-Aligned-Silicide-Capable Transistor Process Using Solid-Phase-Epitaxy and Lift-Off for Hybrid Substrates

Details of a large-area-compatible sub-600 °C process for the fabrication of high mobility field-effect transistors on single crystalline silicon are presented. It is shown that lift-off and solid-phase-epitaxy (SPE) can be used in conjunction with plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to create MOSFET transistors with mobilities comparable to other high-performance techniques. Furthermore, use of an amorphous silicon/silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) sacrificial bilayer is shown to make the process capable of self-aligned silicidation. The topography of the deposition is studied using cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is shown that a successful lift-off can be achieved through the proper design of the sacrificial bilayer despite the high degree of step coverage generally exhibited by PECVD films. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used to reveal the microstructure of the epitaxy and silicidation. Current-voltage characteristics of the fabricated transistors are presented and the field effect mobility of electrons on the fabricated devices is reported. The developed process is particularly useful in applications where high mobility transistors need to be built on silicon/nonsilicon hybrid platforms that exclude high processing temperatures.

MoS2 FET fabrication using adhesion lithography and their application to chemical sensors

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) field effect transistors (FETs) are investigated for chemical sensor applications. However, the formation of electrodes after a MoS2 transistor is transferred to the substrate results in process damage. In this work, MoS2 FETs are fabricated by implementing a gate, source, and drain pre-formation, and then by transferring MoS2 using polydimethylsiloxane. The fabricated FETs are characterized after their exposure to ethanol vapor as a case study for chemical sensor applications. A sub-threshold swing of 72 mV/dec can be observed for a fabricated FET with a field effect mobility of 5.05 cm2 V−1 s−1. The ON/OFF ratio is approximately 104. No significant change in the FET’s properties due to contact resistance is observed. Next, V th is shifted to a 1.7 V-positive value upon ethanol vapor exposure. By removing the ethanol vapor, a 1.4 V-negative shift in the threshold voltage value is observed compared with that before the ethanol vapor removal.

Clean-Room Lithographical Processes for the Fabrication of Graphene Biosensors.

This work is on developing clean-room processes for the fabrication of electrolyte-gate graphene field-effect transistors at the wafer scale for biosensing applications. Our fabrication process overcomes two main issues: removing surface residues after graphene patterning and the dielectric passivation of metallic contacts. A graphene residue-free transfer process is achieved by using a pre-transfer, sacrificial metallic mask that protects the entire wafer except the areas around the channel, source, and drain, onto which the graphene film is transferred and later patterned. After the dissolution of the mask, clean gate electrodes are obtained. The multilayer SiO2/SiNx dielectric passivation takes advantage of the excellent adhesion of SiO2 to graphene and the substrate materials and the superior impermeability of SiNx. It hinders native nucleation centers and breaks the propagation of defects through the layers, protecting from prolonged exposition to all common solvents found in biochemistry work, contrary to commonly used polymeric passivation. Since wet etch does not allow the required level of control over the lithographic process, a reactive ion etching process using a sacrificial metallic stopping layer is developed and used for patterning the passivation layer. The process achieves devices with high reproducibility at the wafer scale.

Pulse-Mediated Electronic Tuning of the MoS2–Perovskite Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistors

This paper reports on the fabrication of a ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) using a monolayer MoS2 film and a perovskite GdNi0.2Fe0.8O3 (GFNO) ferroelectric film. We demonstrate the tu...

Orientation Control of Semiconducting Polymers Using Microchannel Molds

The molecular orientation of organic semiconductors (OSCs) is of fundamental importance to anisotropic electrical behavior as well as superior properties in practical applications. Here, a simple and effective method is demonstrated to fabricate highly oriented semiconducting polymers, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly{[N,N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-1,4,5,8-naphthalenediimide-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5'-(2,2'-bithiophene)} (P(NDI2OD-T2)), by mass transfer effect under microchannel molds by diffusion and convection. Furthermore, parallel or perpendicular molecular arrangements relative to the channel direction were achieved by varying the widths of the microchannels, which are directly observed using polarized optical microscopy and two-dimensional grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction experiments. The method could enable the fabrication of organic field-effect transistors that exhibit anisotropic electrical properties indicating inter- or intrachain charge transport. The resulting platform will provide a simple approach for multidirectional orientations of anisotropic OSCs.

Development of a World Class Silicon Carbide Substrate Manufacturing Capability

Silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor substrates provide the foundation for revolutionary improvements in the cost, size, weight and performance of a broad range of military and commercial radio frequency (RF) and power switching devices. Due to the lack of a viable, native gallium nitride (GaN) substrate, semi-insulating (SI) SiC substrates are the substrate of choice for high power AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) due to their near lattice-match to GaN, superior thermal conductivity and commercial availability. GaN has emerged as the technology of choice for RF power because of its superior output power capability compared to other semiconductors. Similarly, semi-conducting (N+) SiC substrates are required for fabrication of high voltage Schottky Diodes and Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) power switching devices. Critical to this realization is the availability of affordable, high quality, large diameter SI and N+ SiC substrates for production of GaN and SiC power semiconductors. SiC is unique in that bulk single crystals cannot be grown via traditional melt-based manufacturing processes such as Czochralski. Rather, a high temperature sublimation process is required. In the late 1980’s, pioneering physical vapor transport research taking place at North Carolina State University ultimately led to the formation of Cree Research and subsequently the wide bandgap semiconductor industry. U.S. Department of Defense investment in wide bandgap semiconductor development has easily exceeded $1B spawning the creation of an entirely new industry. During the early 1990’s, SiC physical vapor transport growth development was fraught with perceived insurmountable technical challenges associated with micropipes, polytype conversion, diameter expansion and crystalline defects. Despite these monumental crystal growth technology hurdles, SiC substrates are now manufactured at a cost and quality never thought possible. This article highlights more than 20 years of Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) sponsored development with II-VI aimed at positioning itself as a merchant, world-class manufacturer of SiC substrates.

2D Ruddlesden–Popper Perovskite Single Crystal Field‐Effect Transistors

Abstract2D Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites (2D PVKs) have attracted huge interest because of their excellent optoelectronic properties, yet the understanding of their electrical properties is inadequate due to the difficulties in obtaining 2D PVK field‐effect transistors (FETs) with decent performance. Herein, the fabrication and characterization of 2D PVK ((BA)2(MA)n−1PbnI3n+1) single crystal FETs are reported, which exhibit reliable field effect electrical characteristics at low temperatures. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) results reveal that both ion migration and contact resistance seriously degrade device performance. While ion migration can be suppressed at low temperatures, contact resistance seems to fundamentally determine device performance. On one hand, Schottky contacts are observed to form at the metal/2D PVK interface because of Fermi level pinning, resulting in significant charge injection resistance, although this can be remarkably improved by replacing Au electrodes with Ca. On the other hand, the out‐of‐plane mobility is found to be three orders of magnitude lower than the in‐plane mobility in 2D PVKs, causing large interlayer transport resistance. Thus, a low work‐function metal and a thin crystal are important for achieving high device performance. This work provides important experimental insights into fabrication and electrical properties of 2D PVK FETs.