Low-voltage 2D materials-based printed field-effect transistors for integrated digital and analog electronics on paper

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 3566
• Main Authors: Conti, Silvia, Pimpolari, Lorenzo, Calabrese, Gabriele, Worsley, Robyn, Majee, Subimal, Polyushkin, Dmitry K., Paur, Matthias, Pace, Simona, Keum, Dong Hoon, Fabbri, Filippo, Iannaccone, Giuseppe, Macucci, Massimo, Coletti, Camilla, Mueller, Thomas, Casiraghi, Cinzia, Fiori, Gianluca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 16-07-2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 140/133; 147/3; 639/166/987; 639/301/357/1018; 639/925/927/1007; Analog circuits; Boron; Boron nitride; Chemical vapor deposition; Current mirrors; Electronic devices; Electronic equipment; Electronic packaging; Electronic systems; Electronics; Fabrication; Field effect transistors; Functional morphology; Graphene; Humanities and Social Sciences; Inkjet printing; Integrated circuits; Logic circuits; Molybdenum disulfide; multidisciplinary; Packaging; Printing; Resistors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Semiconductor devices; Substrates; Sustainable development; Transistors; Two dimensional materials; Vapors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17297-z

Paper is the ideal substrate for the development of flexible and environmentally sustainable ubiquitous electronic systems, which, combined with two-dimensional materials, could be exploited in many Internet-of-Things applications, ranging from wearable electronics to smart packaging. Here we report high-performance MoS
2
field-effect transistors on paper fabricated with a “channel array” approach, combining the advantages of two large-area techniques: chemical vapor deposition and inkjet-printing. The first allows the pre-deposition of a pattern of MoS
2
; the second, the printing of dielectric layers, contacts, and connections to complete transistors and circuits fabrication. Average
I
ON
/I
OFF
of 8 × 10
3
(up to 5 × 10
4
) and mobility of 5.5 cm
2
V
−1
s
−1
(up to 26 cm
2
V
−1
s
−1
) are obtained. Fully functional integrated circuits of digital and analog building blocks, such as logic gates and current mirrors, are demonstrated, highlighting the potential of this approach for ubiquitous electronics on paper.
Paper is a promising substrate for flexible and environmentally sustainable electronic devices. Here, the authors combine chemical vapor deposition of MoS
2
with inkjet printing of a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) dielectric and silver electrodes, to fabricate flexible MoS
2
field-effect transistors on paper, and then combine the latter with printed graphene resistors and silver interconnects to create inverters, logic gates and current mirrors.