A review of carbon nanotube- and graphene-based flexible thin-film transistors

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have attracted great attention for numerous applications for future flexible electronics, owing to their supreme properties including exceptionally high electronic conductivity and mechanical strength. Here, the progress of CNT- and graphene-based flexible thin-film transistors from material preparation, device fabrication techniques to transistor performance control is reviewed. State-of-the-art fabrication techniques of thin-film transistors are divided into three categories: solid-phase, liquid-phase, and gas-phase techniques, and possible scale-up approaches to achieve realistic production of flexible nanocarbon-based transistors are discussed. In particular, the recent progress in flexible all-carbon nanomaterial transistor research is highlighted, and this all-carbon strategy opens up a perspective to realize extremely flexible, stretchable, and transparent electronics with a relatively low-cost and fast fabrication technique, compared to traditional rigid silicon, metal and metal oxide electronics.