Field-induced activation of metal oxide semiconductor for low temperature flexible transparent electronic device applications

Amorphous metal-oxide semiconductors have been extensively studied as an active channel material in thin film transistors due to their high carrier mobility, and excellent large-area uniformity. Here, we report the athermal activation of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide semiconductor channels by an electric field-induced oxygen migration via gating through an ionic liquid. Using field-induced activation, a transparent flexible thin film transistor is demonstrated on a polyamide substrate with transistor characteristics having a current ON-OFF ratio exceeding 108, and saturation field effect mobility of 8.32 cm2/(V.s) without a post-deposition thermal treatment. This study demonstrates the potential of field-induced activation as an athermal alternative to traditional post-deposition thermal annealing for metal oxide electronic devices suitable for transparent and flexible polymer substrates.