Hybrid organic–metal oxide multilayer channel transistors with high operational stability

Metal oxide thin-film transistors are fast becoming a ubiquitous technology for application in driving backplanes of organic light-emitting diode displays. Currently all commercial products rely on metal oxides processed via physical vapor deposition methods. Transition to simpler, higher throughput manufacturing methods such as solution-based processes, are currently been explored as cost-effective alternatives. However, developing printable oxide transistors with high carrier mobility and bias-stable operation has proved challenging. Here we show that hybrid multilayer channels composed of alternating ultra-thin layers ($\leq$4 nm) of indium oxide, zinc oxide nanoparticles, ozone-treated polystyrene and a compact zinc oxide layer, all solution-processed in ambient atmosphere, can be used to create TFTs with remarkably high electron mobility (50 cm$^{2}$/Vs) and record operational stability. Insertion of the ozone-treated polystyrene interlayer is shown to reduce the concentration of electron traps at the metal oxide surfaces and heterointerfaces. The resulting transistors exhibit dramatically enhanced bias stability over 24 h continuous operation and while subjected to large electric field flux density (2.1$\times$10$^{-6}$ C/cm$^{2}$) with no adverse effects on the electron mobility. Density functional theory calculations identify the origin of this enhanced stability as the passivation of the oxygen vacancy-related gap states due to interaction between ozonolyzed styrene moieties and the oxides. Our results sets new design guidelines for bias-stress resilient metal oxide transistors.