Extremely Low-Cost, Scalable Oxide Semiconductors Employing Poly(acrylic acid)-Decorated Carbon Nanotubes for Thin-Film Transistor Applications

In this study, we report for the first time a simple bar-coating process of soluble metal oxide semiconductors, consuming the 0.1 g of precursor solution in 4 in. sized devices with a cost of only $0.05. To resolve the issue of critical degradation in device performance observable in slow-evaporation-based film formation processes, we incorporate the unprecedentedly developed, poly(acrylic acid)-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in oxide semiconductors. It is demonstrated that a field-effect mobility is improved to the value of 7.34 cm 2 /(V s) (improvement by a factor of 2) without any critical variation in threshold voltage and on/off current ratio.