Oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors: a review of recent advances

Transparent electronics is today one of the most advanced topics for a wide range of device applications. The key components are wide bandgap semiconductors, where oxides of different origins play an important role, not only as passive component but also as active component, similar to what is observed in conventional semiconductors like silicon. Transparent electronics has gained special attention during the last few years and is today established as one of the most promising technologies for leading the next generation of flat panel display due to its excellent electronic performance. In this paper the recent progress in n- and p-type oxide based thin-film transistors (TFT) is reviewed, with special emphasis on solution-processed and p-type, and the major milestones already achieved with this emerging and very promising technology are summarizeed. After a short introduction where the main advantages of these semiconductors are presented, as well as the industry expectations, the beautiful history of TFTs is revisited, including the main landmarks in the last 80 years, finishing by referring to some papers that have played an important role in shaping transparent electronics. Then, an overview is presented of state of the art n-type TFTs processed by physical vapour deposition methods, and finally one of the most exciting, promising, and low cost but powerful technologies is discussed: solution-processed oxide TFTs. Moreover, a more detailed focus analysis will be given concerning p-type oxide TFTs, mainly centred on two of the most promising semiconductor candidates: copper oxide and tin oxide. The most recent data related to the production of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices based on n- and p-type oxide TFT is also be presented. The last topic of this review is devoted to some emerging applications, finalizing with the main conclusions. Related work that originated at CENIMAT|I3N during the last six years is included in more detail, which has led to the fabrication of high performance n- and p-type oxide transistors as well as the fabrication of CMOS devices with and on paper.