Bendable GaAs metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors formed with printed GaAs wire arrays on plastic substrates

Abstract

Micro/nanowires of GaAs with integrated ohmic contacts have been prepared from bulk wafers by metal deposition and patterning, high-temperature annealing, and anisotropic chemical etching. These wires provide a unique type of material for high-performance devices that can be built directly on a wide range of unusual device substrates, such as plastic or paper. In particular, transfer printing organized arrays of these wires at low temperatures onto plastic substrates yield high-quality bendable metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors. Electrical and mechanical characterization of devices on poly͑ethylene terephthalate͒ illustrates the level of performance that can be achieved. These results indicate promise for this approach to high-speed flexible circuits for emerging applications in consumer and military electronic systems.

Highly ordered nanowire arrays on plastic substrates for ultrasensitive flexible chemical sensors

“…The third category of techniques are dry-transfer methods involving the relocation of semiconductor materials 16 or fully fabricated devices 17 from inorganic substrates to plastic using poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamps or soluble glues. Dry transfer has been used to print a variety of photolithographically defined semiconductor microwires 16,[18][19][20] onto plastic. These microstructured ribbons 21 are useful for circuits where high currents are required.…”

Finite deformation mechanics in buckled thin films on compliant supports

“…In particular, wavy electronic materials, such as the single-crystal inorganic semiconductors of Fig. 1 (10) or polycrystalline films of evaporated metals (11-14, 18, 19), provide fully reversible mechanical stretchability in electronic interconnects (11)(12)(13)(14)19) or in the active devices themselves, including metal-oxide field effect transistors (MOSFETs) (10), metal-semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs) (35), p-n junction diodes (10), and Schottky diodes (36). Integrated electronics that use such components could be important for devices such as flexible displays (37), eye-like digital cameras (38), comformable skin sensors (39), intelligent surgical gloves (40), and structural health monitoring devices (41).…”

Transferrable single-crystal silicon nanomembranes and their application to flexible microwave systems

“…A promising solution toward high-speed flexible electronics has emerged with the recent development of transferrable single-crystal Si nanomembranes (SiNMs) [4][5][6][7]. By releasing high-quality flexible materials from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and other types of substrates and transferring them to a new host substrate, high carrier mobility comparable with that of the bulk counterpart has been demonstrated [5].…”

“…On the other hand, a number of other applications do require the use of extremely highspeed devices (>1 GHz, the radio frequency (RF) speed), such as Wi-Fi devices, wearable radios, RF identification devices, foldable phased-array antennas, large-area radars for remote sensing, surveillance [3], etc. Nonetheless, current high-speed devices have been predominantly made of rigid chips and none of the traditional flexible active semiconductors can satisfy the requirements of high-speed applications.A promising solution toward high-speed flexible electronics has emerged with the recent development of transferrable single-crystal Si nanomembranes (SiNMs) [4][5][6][7]. By releasing high-quality flexible materials from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and other types of substrates and transferring them to a new host substrate, high carrier mobility comparable with that of the bulk counterpart has been demonstrated [5].…”