Self-Limiting Assembly Approaches for Nanoadditive Manufacturing of Electronic Thin Films and Devices

Most electronics consist of functional thin films with tens of nanometer thicknesses. It is usually challenging to control the growth of these thin films using conventional solution-based approaches. Nanoadditive manufacturing, a method to deposit electronically desired molecules, polymers, or nanomaterials in a layer-by-layer (LbL) fashion, has emerged as a promising technique for the precise control of film growth and device fabrication. Here, basic principles of nanoadditive manufacturing approaches with self-limiting characteristics are summarized with a particular focus on Langmuir-Blodgett assembly and LbL assembly. Additively manufactured electronic thin films with properties of conductors, semiconductors, and dielectrics are reviewed, followed by a discussion of their application in various electronics, such as field-effect transistors, sensors, memory devices, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes, and electrochromic devices. Finally, challenges and future developments of these approaches are proposed. The resulting analysis reveals promising opportunities of nanoadditive manufacturing for the solution-based fabrication of electronic devices.