Overlay of semi-dried functional layers in offset printing for rapid and high-precision fabrication of flexible TFTs

Abstract

We achieved a reduction in the misregistration of overlying patterns printed on a flexible plastic film and a drastically shorter processing time with fully printed thin-film transistor (TFT) fabrication. This was achieved using a newly developed wet-on-wet (WoW) printing process wherein a subsequent layer can be printed on a previous semi-dried (not-sintered) layer. In the WoW process, as examined by rheological measurements, a semi-dried (highly solidified) state of ink was attained before transferring by utilizing the solvent uptake of a PDMS blanket in offset printing to ensure the structural integrity of the ink layer, and to reduce the inter-contamination of adjoining layers. Loss-on-drying tests and resistivity measurements indicated that molecular penetration at the boundary of adjoining layers with a length of c.a. 70 nm occurred in the WoW process; however, with thicker electrodes, we successfully fabricated a WoW-processed TFT whose performance was comparable with a TFT formed by a conventional printing process.