A nanoscale transistor may pave the way for flexible TVs, tablets, phones, along with high-performance wearable smart devices. Researchers from UK’s University of Manchester and China’s Shandong University developed the technology.
“TVs can already be made extremely thin and bright. Our work may help make TV more mechanically flexible and even cheaper to produce,” says Aimin Song, professor of nanoelectronics in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester.
The thin-film transistor (TFT) is made out of an oxide semiconductor, and it’s the first of its kind capable of operating at a speed of 1 GHz.
“But, perhaps even more importantly, our GHz transistors may enable medium or even high performance flexible electronic circuits, such as truly wearable electronics. Wearable electronics requires flexibility and in many cases transparency, too. This would be the perfect application for our research. Plus, there is a trend in developing smart homes, smart hospitals, and smart cities—in all of which oxide semiconductor TFTs will play a key role,” says Prof. Song.
A TFT is typically used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs), located behind each pixel. The transistor acts as a switch, allowing individual pixels to quickly change state.
However, current TFTs are silicon-based, which are costly, rigid, and opaque, compared to their oxide semiconductor counterparts.
According to Prof. Song, oxide-based electronics still have to undergo further improvements, but the technology is progressing at a rapid pace. Amorphous silicon has already been replaced in some devices, which Prof. Song believes edges commercialization closer.
“Making a high performance device, like our GHz IGZO transistor, is challenging because not only do materials need to be optimized, a range of issues regarding device design, fabrication, and tests also have to be investigated. In 2015, we were able to demonstrate the fastest flexible diodes using oxide semiconductors, reaching 6.3 GHz, and it is still the world record to date. So we’re confident in oxide semiconductor-based technologies,” says Prof. Song.
You can read the full research details in the article, “Amorphous-InGaZnO Thin-Film Transistors Operating Beyond 1 GHz Achieved by Optimizing the Channel and Gate Dimensions,” published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.