Jialu Zhang

Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Separated Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistors for Display Applications

Preseparated, semiconductive enriched carbon nanotubes hold great potential for thin-film transistors and display applications due to their high mobility, high percentage of semiconductive nanotubes, and room-temperature processing compatibility. Here in this paper, we report our progress on wafer-scale processing of separated nanotube thin-film transistors (SN-TFTs) for display applications, including key technology components such as wafer-scale assembly of high-density, uniform separated nanotube networks, high-yield fabrication of devices with superior performance, and demonstration of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) switching controlled by a SN-TFT. On the basis of separated nanotubes with 95% semiconductive nanotubes, we have achieved solution-based assembly of separated nanotube thin films on complete 3 in. Si/SiO(2) wafers, and further carried out wafer-scale fabrication to produce transistors with high yield (>98%), small sheet resistance ( approximately 25 kOmega/sq), high current density ( approximately 10 microA/microm), and superior mobility ( approximately 52 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)). Moreover, on/off ratios of >10(4) are achieved in devices with channel length L > 20 microm. In addition, OLED control circuit has been demonstrated with the SN-TFT, and the modulation in the output light intensity exceeds 10(4). Our approach can be easily scaled to large areas and could serve as critical foundation for future nanotube-based display electronics.

Fully printed separated carbon nanotube thin film transistor circuits and its application in organic light emitting diode control.

The advantages of printed electronics and semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are combined for the first time for display electronics. Conductive silver ink and 98% semiconductive SWCNT solutions are used to print back-gated thin film transistors with high mobility, high on/off ratio, and high current carrying capacity. In addition, with printed polyethylenimine with LiClO4 as the gating material, fully printed top-gated devices have been made to work as excellent current switches for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). An OLED driving circuit composed of two top-gated fully printed transistors has been fabricated, and the successful control over external OLED is demonstrated. Our work demonstrates the significant potential of using printed carbon nanotube electronics for display backplane applications.

Large-scale complementary macroelectronics using hybrid integration of carbon nanotubes and IGZO thin-film transistors

Carbon nanotubes and metal oxide semiconductors have emerged as important materials for p-type and n-type thin-film transistors, respectively; however, realizing sophisticated macroelectronics operating in complementary mode has been challenging due to the difficulty in making n-type carbon nanotube transistors and p-type metal oxide transistors. Here we report a hybrid integration of p-type carbon nanotube and n-type indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors to achieve large-scale (>1,000 transistors for 501-stage ring oscillators) complementary macroelectronic circuits on both rigid and flexible substrates. This approach of hybrid integration allows us to combine the strength of p-type carbon nanotube and n-type indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors, and offers high device yield and low device variation. Based on this approach, we report the successful demonstration of various logic gates (inverter, NAND and NOR gates), ring oscillators (from 51 stages to 501 stages) and dynamic logic circuits (dynamic inverter, NAND and NOR gates).

Macroelectronic integrated circuits using high-performance separated carbon nanotube thin-film transistors.

Macroelectronic integrated circuits are widely used in applications such as flat panel display and transparent electronics, as well as flexible and stretchable electronics. However, the challenge is to find the channel material that can simultaneously offer low temperature processing, high mobility, transparency, and flexibility. Here in this paper, we report the application of high-performance separated nanotube thin-film transistors for macroelectronic integrated circuits. We have systematically investigated the performance of thin-film transistors using separated nanotubes with 95% and 98% semiconducting nanotubes, and high mobility transistors have been achieved. In addition, we observed that while 95% semiconducting nanotubes are ideal for applications requiring high mobility (up to 67 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) such as analog and radio frequency applications, 98% semiconducting nanotubes are ideal for applications requiring high on/off ratios (>10(4) with channel length down to 4 μm). Furthermore, integrated logic gates such as inverter, NAND, and NOR have been designed and demonstrated using 98% semiconducting nanotube devices with individual gating, and symmetric input/output behavior is achieved, which is crucial for the cascading of multiple stages of logic blocks and larger scale integration. Our approach can serve as the critical foundation for future nanotube-based thin-film macroelectronics.

Air-stable conversion of separated carbon nanotube thin-film transistors from p-type to n-type using atomic layer deposition of high-κ oxide and its application in CMOS logic circuits.

Due to extraordinary electrical properties, preseparated, high purity semiconducting carbon nanotubes hold great potential for thin-film transistors (TFTs) and integrated circuit applications. One of the main challenges it still faces is the fabrication of air-stable n-type nanotube TFTs with industry-compatible techniques. Here in this paper, we report a novel and highly reliable method of converting the as-made p-type TFTs using preseparated semiconducting nanotubes into air-stable n-type transistors by adding a high-κ oxide passivation layer using atomic layer deposition (ALD). The n-type devices exhibit symmetric electrical performance compared with the p-type devices in terms of on-current, on/off ratio, and device mobility. Various factors affecting the conversion process, including ALD temperature, metal contact material, and channel length, have also been systematically studied by a series of designed experiments. A complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverter with rail-to-rail output, symmetric input/output behavior, and large noise margin has been further demonstrated. The excellent performance gives us the feasibility of cascading multiple stages of logic blocks and larger scale integration. Our approach can serve as the critical foundation for future nanotube-based thin-film macroelectronics.

Rigid/Flexible Transparent Electronics Based on Separated Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistors and Their Application in Display Electronics

Transparent electronics has attracted numerous research efforts in recent years because of its promising commercial impact in a wide variety of areas such as transparent displays. High optical transparency as well as good electrical performance is required for transparent electronics. Preseparated, semiconducting enriched carbon nanotubes are excellent candidates for this purpose due to their excellent mobility, high percentage of semiconducting nanotubes, and room-temperature processing compatibility. Here we report fully transparent transistors based on separated carbon nanotube networks. Using a very thin metal layer together with indium tin oxide as source and drain contacts, excellent electrical performance as well as high transparency (~82%) has been achieved (350-800 nm). Also, devices on flexible substrates are fabricated, and only a very small variation in electric characteristics is observed during a flexibility test. Furthermore, an organic light-emitting diode control circuit with significant output light intensity modulation has been demonstrated with transparent, separated nanotube thin-film transistors. Our results suggest the promising future of separated carbon nanotube based transparent electronics, which can serve as the critical foundation for next-generation transparent display applications.

Separated Carbon Nanotube Macroelectronics for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode Displays

Active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display holds great potential for the next generation visual technologies due to its high light efficiency, flexibility, lightweight, and low-temperature processing. However, suitable thin-film transistors (TFTs) are required to realize the advantages of AMOLED. Preseparated, semiconducting enriched carbon nanotubes are excellent candidates for this purpose because of their excellent mobility, high percentage of semiconducting nanotubes, and room-temperature processing compatibility. Here we report, for the first time, the demonstration of AMOLED displays driven by separated nanotube thin-film transistors (SN-TFTs) including key technology components, such as large-scale high-yield fabrication of devices with superior performance, carbon nanotube film density optimization, bilayer gate dielectric for improved substrate adhesion to the deposited nanotube film, and the demonstration of monolithically integrated AMOLED display elements with 500 pixels driven by 1000 SN-TFTs. Our approach can serve as the critical foundation for future nanotube-based thin-film display electronics.

Metal Contact Engineering and Registration-Free Fabrication of Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Using Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) operation is very desirable for logic circuit applications as it offers rail-to-rail swing, larger noise margin, and small static power consumption. However, it remains to be a challenging task for nanotube-based devices. Here in this paper, we report our progress on metal contact engineering for n-type nanotube transistors and CMOS integrated circuits using aligned carbon nanotubes. By using Pd as source/drain contacts for p-type transistors, small work function metal Gd as source/drain contacts for n-type transistors, and evaporated SiO(2) as a passivation layer, we have achieved n-type transistor, PN diode, and integrated CMOS inverter with an air-stable operation. Compared with other nanotube n-doping techniques, such as potassium doping, PEI doping, hydrazine doping, etc., using low work function metal contacts for n-type nanotube devices is not only air stable but also integrated circuit fabrication compatible. Moreover, our aligned nanotube platform for CMOS integrated circuits shows significant advantage over the previously reported individual nanotube platforms with respect to scalability and reproducibility and suggests a practical and realistic approach for nanotube-based CMOS integrated circuit applications.

Chirality-Dependent Vapor-Phase Epitaxial Growth and Termination of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Structurally uniform and chirality-pure single-wall carbon nanotubes are highly desired for both fundamental study and many of their technological applications, such as electronics, optoelectronics, and biomedical imaging. Considerable efforts have been invested in the synthesis of nanotubes with defined chiralities by tuning the growth recipes but the approach has only limited success. Recently, we have shown that chirality-pure short nanotubes can be used as seeds for vapor-phase epitaxial cloning growth, opening up a new route toward chirality-controlled carbon nanotube synthesis. Nevertheless, the yield of vapor-phase epitaxial growth is rather limited at the present stage, due in large part to the lack of mechanistic understanding of the process. Here we report chirality-dependent growth kinetics and termination mechanism for the vapor-phase epitaxial growth of seven single-chirality nanotubes of (9, 1), (6, 5), (8, 3), (7, 6), (10, 2), (6, 6), and (7, 7), covering near zigzag, medium chiral angle, and near armchair semiconductors, as well as armchair metallic nanotubes. Our results reveal that the growth rates of nanotubes increase with their chiral angles while the active lifetimes of the growth hold opposite trend. Consequently, the chirality distribution of a nanotube ensemble is jointly determined by both growth rates and lifetimes. These results correlate nanotube structures and properties with their growth behaviors and deepen our understanding of chirality-controlled growth of nanotubes.

A biomimetic fabricated carbon nanotube synapse for prosthetic applications

A biomimetic carbon nanotube synapse, the portion of the neuron that receives inputs from other neurons, has been fabricated in the laboratory as an analog circuit. The waveforms input to the synapse and output from the synapse resemble biological waveforms in shape and relative amplitudes and durations. This working circuit is an important first step towards the use of nanotechnology for biomimetic neural circuits and neural prosthesis.