Synthetic methods produce colloidal nanocrystals that are metallic, semiconducting, and insulating. These nanocrystals have been typically used to form only a single component in devices.
IRG-4 has exploited the library of colloidal nanocrystals and designed the materials, surfaces, and interfaces to construct all the components of field-effect transistors.
The transistors are fabricated from solution over large areas and on flexible plastics and have excellent electrical performance.
Colloidal nanocrystal inks of metallic silver, semiconducting cadmium selenide, and insulating aluminum oxide nanocrystals are used to construct the high conductivity electrodes, high mobility semiconductor channel layers, and high dielectric constant insulator layers of transistors. Colloidal indium nanocrystals are mixed into the silver nanocrystal inks to dope the semiconductor channel upon annealing. High mobility, all nanocrystal devices operating at low voltage are fabricated by solution-based methods over a large area on flexible plastics.
This work was published in Science, 352, 205-208 (2016).