1. Nature-Inspired Capillary-Driven Welding Process for Boosting Metal-Oxide Nanofiber Electronics
- Author
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Meng, You, Lou, Kaihua, Qi, Rui, Guo, Zidong, Shin, Byoungchul, Liu, Guoxia, and Shan, Fukai
- Abstract
Recently, semiconducting nanofiber networks (NFNs) have been considered as one of the most promising platforms for large-area and low-cost electronics applications. However, the high contact resistance among stacking nanofibers remained to be a major challenge, leading to poor device performance and parasitic energy consumption. In this report, a controllable welding technique for NFNs was successfully demonstrated via a bioinspired capillary-driven process. The interfiber connections were well-achieved via a cooperative concept, combining localized capillary condensation and curvature-induced surface diffusion. With the improvements of the interfiber connections, the welded NFNs exhibited enhanced mechanical property and high electrical performance. The field-effect transistors (FETs) based on the welded Hf-doped In2O3(InHfO) NFNs were demonstrated for the first time. Meanwhile, the mechanisms involved in the grain-boundary modulation for polycrystalline metal-oxide nanofibers were discussed. When the high-k ZrOxdielectric thin films were integrated into the FETs, the field-effect mobility and operating voltage were further improved to be 25 cm2V–1s–1and 3 V, respectively. This is one of the best device performances among the reported nanofibers-based FETs. These results demonstrated the potencies of the capillary-driven welding process and grain-boundary modulation mechanism for metal-oxide NFNs, which could be applicable for high-performance, large-scale, and low-power functional electronics.
- Published
- 2018
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