In-plane-gate indium-tin-oxide thin-film transistors self-assembled on paper substrates

Oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) with in-plane gate structure are self-assembled on paper substrates at room temperature by using only one nickel shadow mask. Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) channel and ITO electrodes (gate, source, and drain) can be deposited simultaneously without precise photolithography and alignment process. The equivalent field-effect mobility, subthreshold swing, and on/off ratio of such paper TFTs are estimated to be 22.4 cm(2)/V s, 192 mV/decade, and 8 x 10(5), respectively. A model based on two capacitors in series is proposed to further understand the operation mechanism. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3567946]