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Electronic circuits printed at one micron resolution

Date:
September 1, 2016
Source:
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
Summary:
A research team has developed a printing technique for forming electronic circuits and thin-film transistors (TFTs) with line width and line spacing both being 1 ?m. Using this technique, the research team formed fully-printed organic TFTs with a channel length of 1 ?m on flexible substrates, and confirmed that the TFTs operate at a practical level.
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A research team consisting of MANA Independent Scientist Takeo Minari, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), NIMS, and Colloidal Ink developed a printing technique for forming electronic circuits and thin-film transistors (TFTs) with line width and line spacing both being 1 μm. Using this technique, the research team formed fully-printed organic TFTs with a channel length of 1 μm on flexible substrates, and confirmed that the TFTs operate at a practical level.

Printed electronics -- printing techniques to fabricate electronic devices using functional materials dissolved in ink -- is drawing much attention in recent years as a promising new method to create large-area semiconductor devices at low cost. Because these techniques enable the formation of electronic devices even on flexible substrates, they are expected to be applicable to new fields such as wearable devices. In comparison, conventional printing technologies allow the formation of circuits and devices with line widths only as narrow as several dozen micrometers. Accordingly, they are not applicable to the creation of minute devices suitable for practical use. Thus, there were high expectations for developing new printing techniques capable of consistently fabricating circuits with line widths of several micrometers or less.

In this study, the research team developed a printing technique capable of forming metal circuits with line width being 1 μm on flexible substrates. Using this technique, they fabricated minute organic TFTs. The principle of this printing technique is as follows: First, form hydrophilic and hydrophobic micro-patterns on the substrate by irradiating it with parallel vacuum ultraviolet (PVUV) at a wavelength of 200 nm or less. Then, coat only the hydrophilic patterns with metal nanoparticle inks. The use of a PVUV light source (Ushio Inc.) enabled us to focus emitted light on much smaller targets than conventional light sources. Moreover, the use of DryCure-Au -- metal nanoparticle ink that can form a conductive film at room temperature developed by Colloidal Ink -- enabled us to form devices and circuits at room temperature during the entire process. As a result, we are able to fully prevent distortion of flexible substrates by heat, and form and laminate circuits within the accuracy of several microns. In addition, we precisely tuned the gate overlap lengths of the printed organic TFTs fabricated by this technique, which was previously impossible due to accuracy issues. As a result, a practical mobility level of 0.3 cm2 V-1 s-1 was accomplished for the organic TFTs with the channel length of 1 μm.

In future studies, we will aim to apply the technique in various fields such as large-area flexible displays and sensors. Since the process we developed is applicable to bio-related materials, the technique may also be useful in medical and bioelectronics fields.


Story Source:

Materials provided by National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Xuying Liu, Masayuki Kanehara, Chuan Liu, Kenji Sakamoto, Takeshi Yasuda, Jun Takeya, Takeo Minari. Spontaneous Patterning of High-Resolution Electronics via Parallel Vacuum Ultraviolet. Advanced Materials, 2016; 28 (31): 6568 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201506151

Cite This Page:

National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). "Electronic circuits printed at one micron resolution." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 September 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901093000.htm>.
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). (2016, September 1). Electronic circuits printed at one micron resolution. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901093000.htm
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). "Electronic circuits printed at one micron resolution." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901093000.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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