Influence of a self-assembled monolayer on indium-zinc-oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors

The fabrication of an active-matrix liquid-crystal display by using printing processes offers the potential to reduce the number of photolithography steps and the manufacturing costs. In this study, we prepare the indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) by using non-vacuum processes such as inkjet printing. The self-assembled monolayers of hexadecanethiol (HDT) on the surface of the oxide semiconductor prior to the inkjet printing of Ag were employed to modify the electric barrier between the IZO and the printed Ag. The field-effect mobility of the IZO TFTs with 0.5-mM HDT treatments and with the inkjet-printed Ag electrodes that were investigated by using their current-voltage characteristics was approximately 0.36 cm2/Vs.