Patterned assembly of inorganic semiconducting nanowires using lithography-free technique

De Pamphilis, L., Dahiya, A. S. , Christou, A., Ma, S. and Dahiya, R. (2023) Patterned assembly of inorganic semiconducting nanowires using lithography-free technique. IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics, 2(2), pp. 223-232. (doi: 10.1109/JFLEX.2022.3232079)

Abstract

Patterned assembly of inorganic nanowires (NWs) at desired locations offers the opportunity to realise large-area high performance flexible electronics. Transfer and Contact printing methods are some of the viable methods to achieve this. However, some of the fabrication steps in these methods rely on lithography, which are inherently wasteful and therefore, the approach is not an ideal solution for large area electronics. Herein, we show a lithography-free patterning technique in which NWs are selectively removed from a uniformly contact printed electronic layer. The NWs are removed using an elastomeric stamp. The removal efficiency is improved by evaporating a thin layer of water onto its patterned face, which greatly enhances the stamp-NW adhesion via the capillary action. The SEM analyses of the NW layer showed a good pattern fidelity, fair retention of the initial NW density and optimal contrast between positive and negative areas of the pattern. The efficacy of the presented technique for printed electronics is demonstrated by fabricating all-printed ZnO NW-based photodetectors (PDs) on a flexible substrate. Using the as-prepared patterned NWs, a 3×4 array of PD devices is fabricated. The PDs show good responsivity (1.3×10 6 A/W) and specific detectivity (6.95×10 16 Jones) in the UV range. These devices show that the presented selective removal approach could be an attractive route for future lithography-free printed electronics.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dahiya, Dr Abhishek Singh and Dahiya, Professor Ravinder and Ma, Sihang and De Pamphilis, Mr Luca and Christou, Mr Adamos
• Authors: De Pamphilis, L., Dahiya, A. S., Christou, A., Ma, S., and Dahiya, R.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 2768-167X
• ISSN (Online): 2768-167X
• Published Online: 23 December 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics 2(2):223 - 232
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
301728		Engineering Fellowships for Growth: Printed Tactile SKIN	Ravinder Dahiya	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/R029644/1	ENG - Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering
301327		`Hetero-print: A holistic approach to transfer-printing for heterogeneous integration in manufacturing	Peter Skabara	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/R03480X/1	ENG - Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering