Ionic/electronic interaction offers an additional dimension in the recent advancements of condensed materials. Here, lateral gate control of conductivities of indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) films is reported. An electric-double-layer (EDL) transistor configuration was utilized with a phosphorous-doped SiO2 nanogranular film to provide a strong lateral electric field. Due to the strong lateral protonic/electronic interfacial coupling effect, the IZO EDL transistor could operate at a low-voltage of 1 V. A resistor-loaded inverter is built, showing a high voltage gain of ∼8 at a low supply voltage of 1 V. The lateral ionic/electronic coupling effects are interesting for bioelectronics and portable electronics.

The control and detection over processing, transport and delivery of chemical species is of great importance in sensors and biological systems. The transient characteristics of the migration of chemical species reflect the basic properties in the processings of chemical species. Here, we observed the field-configurable proton effects in a laterally coupled transistor gated by phosphorosilicate glass (PSG). The bias on the lateral gate would modulate the interplay between protons and electrons at the PSG/indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) channel interface. Due to the modulation of protons flux within the PSG films, the IZO channel current would be modified correspondingly. The characteristic time for the proton gating is estimated to be on the order of 20 ms. Such laterally coupled oxide based transistors with proton gating are promising for low-cost portable biosensors and neuromorphic system applications.

Modulation of charge carrier density in condensed materials based on ionic/electronic interaction has attracted much attention. Here, protonic/electronic hybrid indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) transistors gated by chitosan based electrolyte were obtained. The chitosan-based electrolyte illustrates a high proton conductivity and an extremely strong proton gating behavior. The transistor illustrates good electrical performances at a low operating voltage of ∼1.0 V such as on/off ratio of ∼3 × 107, subthreshold swing of ∼65 mV/dec, threshold voltage of ∼0.3 V, and mobility of ∼7 cm2/V s. Good positive gate bias stress stabilities are obtained. Furthermore, a low voltage driven resistor-loaded inverter was built by using an IZO transistor in series with a load resistor, exhibiting a linear relationship between the voltage gain and the supplied voltage. The inverter is also used for decreasing noises of input signals. The protonic/electronic hybrid IZO transistors have potential applications in biochemical sensors and portable electronics.