Ionic Liquids for Electrolyte-Gating of ZnO Field-Effect Transistors

We investigate the influence of the chemical structure of a range of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (IL) on their properties as electrolytes and the device characteristics of electrolyte-gated field-effects transistors (FETs) based on spray-deposited polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO). We find a decrease of electron field-effect mobility that correlates with the capacitance of the ionic liquids and not only with the size of the IL-cation. The device stability depends significantly on testing conditions. While they are reasonably stable in nitrogen, ZnO-FETs degrade rapidly in ambient air due to absorption of water by the IL and the resulting ZnO surface reactions. Replacement of the most acidic hydrogen atom of the imidazolium cation and surface passivation of ZnO with hexamethyldisilazane improve environmental stability.