Recyclable, Flexible, Low-Power Oxide Electronics

The ability to process and dimensionally scale field-effect transistors with and on paper and to integrate them as a core component for low-power-consumption analog and digital circuits is demonstrated. Low-temperature-processed p- and n-channel integrated oxide thin-film transistors in the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter architecture are seamlessly layered on mechanically flexible, low-cost, recyclable paper substrates. The possibility of building these circuits using low-temperature processes opens the door to new applications ranging from smart labels and sensors on clothing and packaging to electronic displays printed on paper pages for use in newspapers, magazines, books, signs, and advertising billboards. Because the CMOS circuits reported constitute fundamental building blocks for analog and digital electronics, this development creates the potential to have flexible form factor computers seamlessly layered onto paper. The holistic approach of merging low-power circuitry with a recyclable substrate is an important step towards greener electronics.