Recent Progress in the Development of Printed Thin‐Film Transistors and Circuits with High‐Resolution Printing Technology

Abstract

Printed electronics enable the fabrication of large‐scale, low‐cost electronic devices and systems, and thus offer significant possibilities in terms of developing new electronics/optics applications in various fields. Almost all electronic applications require information processing using logic circuits. Hence, realizing the high‐speed operation of logic circuits is also important for printed devices. This report summarizes recent progress in the development of printed thin‐film transistors (TFTs) and integrated circuits in terms of materials, printing technologies, and applications. The first part of this report gives an overview of the development of functional inks such as semiconductors, electrodes, and dielectrics. The second part discusses high‐resolution printing technologies and strategies to enable high‐resolution patterning. The main focus of this report is on obtaining printed electrodes with high‐resolution patterning and the electrical performance of printed TFTs using such printed electrodes. In the final part, some applications of printed electronics are introduced to exemplify their potential.

Gravure Printed Ultrathin Dielectric for Low Voltage Flexible Organic Field‐Effect Transistors

“…PVP is also typically crosslinked with derivatives of poly(melamine-co-formaldehyde) which are air stable but require extensive curing times > 30 min at 150 °C and films have thickness > 150 nm. [26] Crosslinked dielectric films based on a triacrylate ( Figure S1, Supporting Information) and PMMA were shown in previous work to be compatible with p-and n-type semiconductors (Table S3, Supporting Information), e.g., DPPT-TT, P(NDI2OD-T2), and C 16 IDT-BT. [18] The thinnest possible dielectrics are made of self-assembled layers.…”

Accessing MHz Operation at 2 V with Field‐Effect Transistors Based on Printed Polymers on Plastic

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Such vision has begun to show concrete potential through a variety of proofof-concept demonstrations, among which are programmable logic circuitry for flexible displays, [6] transferrable electronics for pharmaceutics, [7] healthcare sensors for brainwave detection [8] or pulse oximetry, [9] fully printed washable electronics on fabrics, [10] and imperceptible logic circuitry on ultrathin substrates for intelligent electronic skin. This promise stemmed from the prospect of utilizing printing tools derived from well-established graphical arts technologies to deposit a variety of functional materials, which exhibit a suitable combination of mechanical and electronic properties.…”

A Novel Strategy for Preparing Stretchable and Reliable Biphasic Liquid Metal

“…and manufacturing techniques have been proposed to engineer stretchable conductive patterns, [9][10][11] such as conductive ink printing, atom sputtering used mask template, electrohydrodynamic jet printing, etc. and manufacturing techniques have been proposed to engineer stretchable conductive patterns, [9][10][11] such as conductive ink printing, atom sputtering used mask template, electrohydrodynamic jet printing, etc.…”

“…However, these materials with high Young's modulus possess poor stretchability and frangibility, and are prone to crack under stretching or bending environments, resulting in loss of electric conductivity. [15,16] Unlike these traditional conductive rigid materials, the emerging galliumbased liquid metals with advantages of low Young's moduli (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10) and in principle infinitely deformable have attracted great attention as an ideal candidate for fabricating stretchable conductive pattern. ), which is enabled to slightly elongate but it is also limited.…”