Zinc Oxide Nanostructures and High Electron Mobility Nanocomposite Thin Film Transistors

This paper reports on the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures and examines the performance of nanocomposite thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated using ZnO dispersed in both n- and p-type polymer host matrices. The ZnO nanostructures considered here comprise nanowires and tetrapods and were synthesized using vapor phase deposition techniques involving the carbothermal reduction of solid-phase zinc-containing compounds. Measurement results of nanocomposite TFTs based on dispersion of ZnO nanorods in an n-type organic semiconductor ([6, 6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester) show electron field-effect mobilities in the range 0.3-0.6 cm² V^-1s^-1, representing an approximate enhancement by as much as a factor of 40 from the pristine state. The on/off current ratio of the nanocomposite TFTs approach 10⁶ at saturation with off-currents on the order of 10 pA. The results presented here, although preliminary, show a highly promising enhancement for realization of high-performance solution-processable n-type organic TFTs.