One decade of fully transparent oxide thin‐film transistors: fabrication, performance and stability

Abstract We review the history of fully transparent oxide thin‐film transistors. Their performance and stability increased during the past ten years of their existence, thus enabling the design of novel applications in transparent electronics. However, certain disadvantages of the well established leading technology of metal–insulator–semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MISFETs), adapted from the silicon‐based complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) and thin‐film transistor technology, may be overcome by alternative transistor designs like metal–semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MESFETs). We compare the stability of published transparent MISFET with our transparent MESFET (TMESFET) technology against bias stress, towards illumination, at elevated temperatures and long‐term stability. magnified image Photograph of a sample (10 × 10 mm²) with 88 TMESFETs. The inset depicts a scheme of one single TMESFET (G: gate, S: source, D: drain, M: channel mesa). (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)