Printed flexible thin-film transistors based on different types of modified liquid metal with good mobility

摘要

High-performance logic circuits fabricated on flexible or unconventional substrates have become a necessity for several new applications. Generally, compared to those fabricated on more rigid substrates,printed, large-area, and flexible thin film transistors（TFTs） are prone to under-performance, which severely limits their practical value. The realization of printed flexible macroelectronics requires advancements in material science and novel fabricating techniques. In this study, using a fast printing process, we manufacture liquid metal-carbon nanotube TFTs on a thin polyethylene terephthalate substrate. These flexible TFTs（ptype） exhibit enhance stability and flexibility, carrier mobility(10.61 cm~2 V-1s-1), and transconductance（0.88 μS）. Furthermore, we realize dependable n-type and ambipolar transistors based on liquid metals with charge transport efficiencies that are comparable to our p-type counterparts, thus providing a foundation for manufacturing integrated circuits and complementary logic gates on flexible substrates. This study shows the positive progress of liquid metal printing-enabled functional devices and discusses the possibility of practical applications; moreover, it sets the foundation for printed high-performance and large-area flexible liquid metal electronics.