Large-area, low-voltage, antiambipolar heterojunctions from solution-processed semiconductors

Nano Lett. 2015 Jan 14;15(1):416-21. doi: 10.1021/nl5037484. Epub 2014 Dec 3.

Abstract

The emergence of semiconducting materials with inert or dangling bond-free surfaces has created opportunities to form van der Waals heterostructures without the constraints of traditional epitaxial growth. For example, layered two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been incorporated into heterostructure devices with gate-tunable electronic and optical functionalities. However, 2D materials present processing challenges that have prevented these heterostructures from being produced with sufficient scalability and/or homogeneity to enable their incorporation into large-area integrated circuits. Here, we extend the concept of van der Waals heterojunctions to semiconducting p-type single-walled carbon nanotube (s-SWCNT) and n-type amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin films that can be solution-processed or sputtered with high spatial uniformity at the wafer scale. The resulting large-area, low-voltage p-n heterojunctions exhibit antiambipolar transfer characteristics with high on/off ratios that are well-suited for electronic, optoelectronic, and telecommunication technologies.

Keywords: carbon nanotube; frequency doubler; indium gallium zinc oxide; phase shift keying; p−n heterojunction; van der Waals heterostructure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.