Solution-Shearing Self-Assembly of Hydrothermally Synthesized Tellurium Nanowires for Fabricating Field-Effect...

Tellurium nanowires (TeNWs), a typical p-type semiconductor, have attracted significant attention in field-effect transistors (FETs) due to their narrow bandgap and high carrier mobility properties. However, fabricating large-area electronic devices with uniform performance remains a major challenge. In this study, we report a facile solution-shearing self-assembling strategy for fabricating TeNW-FETs with high-performance and uniformity. The solution-shearing process occurs at the interface during relative motion between the substrate and TeNW dispersion, enabling the TeNWs to reorient and adhere to the substrate, forming a uniform nanowire network. The transfer characteristics of TeNW-FETs reveal highly uniform electrical performance, and FET performance is strongly modulated by dispersion concentrations. Moreover, we investigated the impact of the solution-shearing direction on the device performance. The effective field-effect mobility of FETs with channels perpendicular to the substrate movement direction was approximately 12.1% lower than that of FETs with channels parallel to the movement direction. To further demonstrate scalability, we fabricated transistor arrays containing 324 individual FETs on a 4-inch Si/SiO₂ wafer, achieving 100% functional device yield and good performance uniformity. The devices exhibited an average I_ON/OFF ratio of 6.9 × 10², mobility (μ_eff) of 24.3 cm² V^-1 s^-1, subthreshold swing (SS) of 7.9 V dec^-1 and threshold voltage (V_TH) of 12.0 V.