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The impact of solvent and modifier on ZnO thin-film transistors fabricated by sol-gel process

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Abstract

Techniques for fabricating solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO)-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) are feasible with solution using various routes. Here, ZnO TFTs were fabricated via sol-gel method using zinc acetate as the starting reagent with different modifiers and solvents. The ZnO thin-film semiconductors with well-controlled, preferential crystal orientation and densely packed ZnO crystals can be prepared with the optimized fabrication conditions, exhibiting excellent field-effect far exceeding those of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). However, the field-effect characteristics of ZnO TFTs were different for different precursor systems which were constituted by zinc acetate, modifiers and solvents. The co-modification of acetoin and monoethanolamine for the precursor system exhibited higher extent of crystal orientation and field-effect. The maximum mobility of 7.65 cm2V−1s−1 and current on-to-off ratio of ∼105–106 have been obtained.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sciences/Beijing Key Lab of Plant Resource Research and Development, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China

    YinMao Dong & ChenSha Li

  2. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    DongYan Tang

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    ChenSha Li

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  1. YinMao Dong
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  2. DongYan Tang
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Correspondence to ChenSha Li.

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Dong, Y., Tang, D. & Li, C. The impact of solvent and modifier on ZnO thin-film transistors fabricated by sol-gel process. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 57, 2153–2160 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-014-5684-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-014-5684-0

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