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International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA)

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[[Research Highlights Vol.16] A cool approach to flexible electronics](https://mdr.nims.go.jp/datasets/caab4106-ae6f-492e-bf78-287437a2bbda)

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2022/04/04 10:22 A cool approach to flexible electronics| MANAhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol16.html 1/2Previous  Index  NextResearch Highlights[Vol. 16]A cool approach to flexible electronics10 Jul, 2014A nanoparticle ink that can be used for printing electronics without high-temperature annealing presents a possible profitable approach formanufacturing flexible electronics.Figure : Fully printed organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) on a paper substrate.(a) Schematic of the device structure for a fully printed OTFT on paper. (b)Arrays of fully printed OTFTs fabricated on a paper substrate inkjet printed withthe NIMS logo before adding the device. (c) An optical microscope image of fully-printed OTFT arrays. (d) A magnified optical microscope image of the individualdevice. Arrays of fully printed organic thin film transistors fabricated on papersubstrates that had the the NIMS logo ink jet printed on before processing.Printing semiconductor devices is considered to provide low-cost high performance flexibleelectronics that outperforms the amorphous silicon thin film transistors currently limitingdevelopments in display technology. However the nanoparticle inks developed so far have requiredannealing, which limits them to substrates that can withstand high temperatures, ruling out a lotof the flexible plastics that could otherwise be used. Researchers at the National Institute forMaterials Science and Okayama University in Japan have now developed a nanoparticle ink thatcan be used with room-temperature printing procedures.Developments in thin film transistors made from amorphous silicon have provided wider, thinnerdisplays with higher resolution and lower energy consumption. However further progress in thisfield is now limited by the low response to applied electric fields, that is, the low field-effecthttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol15.htmlhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/index.htmlhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol17.html2022/04/04 10:22 A cool approach to flexible electronics| MANAhttps://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol16.html 2/2mobility. Oxide semiconductors such as InGaZnO (IGZO) offer better performance characteristicsbut require complicated fabrication procedures.Nanoparticle inks should allow simple low-cost manufacture but the nanoparticles usually used aresurrounded in non-conductive ligands – molecules that are introduced during synthesis forstabilizing the particles. These ligands must be removed by annealing to make the ink conducting.Takeo Minari, Masayuki Kanehara and colleagues found a way around this difficulty by developingnanoparticles surrounded by planar aromatic molecules that allow charge transfer.The gold nanoparticles had a resistivity of around 9 x 10-6 Ω cm – similar to pure gold. Theresearchers used the nanoparticle ink to print organic thin film transistors on a flexible polymerand a paper substrate at room temperature, producing devices with mobilities of 7.9 and 2.5cm2 V-1 s-1 for polymer and paper respectively – figures comparable to IGZO devices.As the researchers conclude in their report of the work, “This room temperature printing process isa promising method as a core technology for future semiconductor devices.”Reference"Room-temperature printing of organic thin-film transistors with π-junction gold nanoparticles"Takeo Minari, Yuki Kanehara, Chuan Liu, Kenji Sakamoto, Takeshi Yasuda, Asuka Yaguchi, ShigemiTsukada, Kei Kashizaki, Masayuki KaneharaJournal : Advanced Functional Materials 24, 31, 4886-4892 (2014).DOI : 10.1002/adfm.201400169AffiliationsInternational Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for MaterialsScience (NIMS), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, JapanContact informationInternational Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics(WPI-MANA)National Institute for Materials Science1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 JapanPhone: +81-29-860-4710E-mail: mana-pr[AT]ml.nims.go.jphttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.201400169