Persistent photoconduction (PPC) is a phenomenon that limits the application of oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) in optical sensor-embedded displays. In the present work, a study on zinc oxynitride (ZnON) semiconductor TFTs based on the combination of experimental results and device simulation is presented. Devices incorporating ZnON semiconductors exhibit negligible PPC effects compared with amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) TFTs, and the difference between the two types of materials are examined by monochromatic photonic C-V spectroscopy (MPCVS). The latter method allows the estimation of the density of subgap states in the semiconductor, which may account for the different behavior of ZnON and IGZO materials with respect to illumination and the associated PPC. In the case of a-IGZO TFTs, the oxygen flow rate during the sputter deposition of a-IGZO is found to influence the amount of PPC. Small oxygen flow rates result in pronounced PPC, and large densities of valence band tail (VBT) states are observed in the corresponding devices. This implies a dependence of PPC on the amount of oxygen vacancies (VO). On the other hand, ZnON has a smaller bandgap than a-IGZO and contains a smaller density of VBT states over the entire range of its bandgap energy. Here, the concept of activation energy window (AEW) is introduced to explain the occurrence of PPC effects by photoinduced electron doping, which is likely to be associated with the formation of peroxides in the semiconductor. The analytical methodology presented in this report accounts well for the reduction of PPC in ZnON TFTs, and provides a quantitative tool for the systematic development of phototransistors for optical sensor-embedded interactive displays.

Large-area and highly crystalline CVD-grown multilayer MoSe2 films exhibit a well-defined crystal structure (2H phase) and large grains reaching several hundred micrometers. Multilayer MoSe2 transistors exhibit high mobility up to 121 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and excellent mechanical stability. These results suggest that high mobility materials will be indispensable for various future applications such as high-resolution displays and human-centric soft electronics.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) layers of molecular thickness, in particular molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), become increasingly important as active elements for mechanically flexible/stretchable electronics owing to their relatively high carrier mobility, wide bandgap, and mechanical flexibility. Although the superior electronic properties of TMD transistors are usually integrated into rigid silicon wafers or glass substrates, the achievement of similar device performance on flexible substrates remains quite a challenge. The present work successfully addresses this challenge by a novel process architecture consisting of a solution‐based polyimide (PI) flexible substrate in which laser‐welded silver nanowires are embedded, a hybrid organic/inorganic gate insulator, and multilayers of MoS2. Transistors fabricated according to this process scheme have decent properties: a field‐effect‐mobility as high as 141 cm2 V−1 s−1 and an Ion/Ioff ratio as high as 5 × 105. Furthermore, no apparent degradation in the device properties is observed under systematic cyclic bending tests with bending radii of 10 and 5 mm. Overall electrical and mechanical results provide potentially important applications in the fabrication of versatile areas of flexible integrated circuitry.

This review article introduces the recent advances in the development of oxide semiconductor materials based on solution processes and their potential applications. In the early stage, thin film transistors based on oxide semiconductors fabricated by solution processes used to face critical problems such as high annealing temperatures (>400 °C) required to obtain reasonable film quality, and the relatively low field effect mobility (<5 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) compared to devices fabricated by conventional vacuum-based techniques. In order to overcome such hurdles, the proper selection of high mobility amorphous oxide semiconductor materials is addressed first. The latter involves the combination of high mobility compounds and multilayered active stacks. Ensuing overviews are provided on the selection of optimum precursors and alternative annealing methods that enable the growth of high quality films at relatively low process temperatures (<200 °C). Reasonably high field effect mobility values (~10 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) could thus be obtained by optimizing the above process parameters. Finally, potential applications of solution processed oxide semiconductor devices are summarized, involving, for instance, flexible displays, biosensors, and non-volatile memory devices. As such, further innovations in the solution process methods of oxide semiconductor devices are anticipated to allow the realization of cost effective, large area electronics in the near future.