Plasma Polymerization Enabled Polymer/Metal–Oxide Hybrid Semiconductors for Wearable Electronics

Abstract

A facile fabrication of polymer/metal-oxide hybrid semiconductors is introduced to overcome the intrinsically brittle nature of inorganic metal-oxide semiconductors. The fabrication of the hybrid semiconductors was enabled by plasma polymerization of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) via radio frequency magnetron sputtering process which is highly compatible with metal-oxide semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) and PTFE are cosputtered to fabricate PTFE-incorporated IGZO thin-film transistors (IGZO:PTFE TFTs) and they exhibit a field-effect mobility of 10.27 cm² V^-1 s^-1, a subthreshold swing of 0.38 V dec^-1, and an on/off ratio of 1.08 × 10⁸. When compared with conventional IGZO TFTs, the IGZO:PTFE TFTs show improved stability results against various electrical, illumination, thermal, and moisture stresses. Furthermore, the IGZO:PTFE TFTs show stable electrical characteristics with a threshold voltage ( V_th) shift of 0.89 V after 10 000 tensile bending cycles at a radius of 5 mm.