Solution‐processed high‐performance ZnO nano‐FETs fabricated with direct‐write electron‐beam‐lithography‐based top‐down route

Tiwale, N., Senanayak, S. P., Rubio-Lara, J., Prasad, A. , Aziz, A., Alaverdyan, Y. and Welland, M. E. (2021) Solution‐processed high‐performance ZnO nano‐FETs fabricated with direct‐write electron‐beam‐lithography‐based top‐down route. Advanced Electronic Materials, 7(3), 2000978. (doi: 10.1002/aelm.202000978)

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been extensively investigated for use in large-area electronics; in particular, the solution-processing routes have shown increasing promise towards low-cost fabrication. However, top-down fabrication approaches with nanoscale resolution, towards aggressively scaled device platforms, are still underexplored. This study reports a novel approach of direct-write electron-beam lithography (DW-EBL) of solution precursors as negative tone resists, followed by optimal precursor processing to fabricate micron/nano-field-effect transistors (FETs). It is demonstrated that the mobility and current density of ZnO FETs can be increased by two orders of magnitude as the precursor pattern width is decreased from 50 µm to 100 nm. These nano-FET devices exhibit field-effect mobility exceeding ≈30 cm2 V−1 s−1 and on-state current densities reaching 10 A m−1, the highest reported so far for direct-write precursor-patterned nanoscale ZnO FETs. Using atomic force microscopy and parametric modeling, the origin of such device performance improvement is investigated. The findings emphasize the influence of pre-decomposition nanoscale precursor patterning on the grain morphology evolution in ZnO and, consequently, open up large-scale integration, and miniaturization opportunities for solution-processed, high-performance nanoscale oxide FETs.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Prasad, Dr Abhinav
• Authors: Tiwale, N., Senanayak, S. P., Rubio-Lara, J., Prasad, A., Aziz, A., Alaverdyan, Y., and Welland, M. E.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Advanced Electronic Materials
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 2199-160X
• ISSN (Online): 2199-160X
• Published Online: 25 January 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Advanced Electronic Materials 7(3):2000978
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence