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Flammable carbon nanotube transistors on a nitrocellulose paper substrate for transient electronics

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Abstract

Transient electronics represent an emerging class of technology comprising materials that can vanish in a controlled manner in response to stimuli. In contrast to conventional electronic devices that are designed to operate over the longest possible period, transient electronics are defined by operation typically over a short and well-defined period; when no longer needed, transient electronics undergo self-deconstruction and disappear completely. In this work, we demonstrate the fabrication of thermally triggered transient electronic devices based on a paper substrate, specifically, a nitrocellulose paper. Nitrocellulose paper is frequently used in acts of magic because it consists of highly flammable components that are formed by nitrating cellulose by exposure to nitric acid. Therefore, a complete and rapid destruction of electronic devices fabricated on nitrocellulose paper is possible without producing any residue (i.e., ash). The transience rates can be modified by controlling radio frequency signal-induced voltages that are applied to a silver (Ag) resistive heater, which is stamped on the backside of the nitrocellulose paper. The Ag resistive heater was prepared by a simple, low-cost stamping fabrication, which requires no harsh chemicals or complex thermal treatments. For the electronics on the nitrocellulose paper substrate, we employed semiconducting carbon nanotube (CNT) network channels in the transistor for superior electrical and mechanical properties.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea through the Ministry of Edu cation, Science and Technology, Korean Government (Nos. 2013R1A1A1057870 and 2016R1A2B4011366) and partially supported by No. 2016R1A5A1012966. We thank Professor Jeffrey Bokor for useful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical Engineering, Kookmin University, Seoul, 02707, Republic of Korea

    Jinsu Yoon, Juhee Lee, Bongsik Choi, Dae Hwan Kim, Dong Myong Kim & Sung-Jin Choi

  2. School of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea

    Dongil Lee

  3. Center for Nanotechnology, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA

    Dong-Il Moon

  4. Test&Package Technology Group, Mechatronics R&D Center, Samsung Electronics, Gyeonggi-do, 18448, Republic of Korea

    Meehyun Lim

  5. Department of Electrical Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea

    Sungho Kim

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  1. Jinsu Yoon
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  4. Dongil Lee
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Correspondence to Sungho Kim or Sung-Jin Choi.

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Yoon, J., Lee, J., Choi, B. et al. Flammable carbon nanotube transistors on a nitrocellulose paper substrate for transient electronics. Nano Res. 10, 87–96 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1268-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1268-6

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