Nonthermal crystal bridging of ZnO nanoparticles by nonequilibrium excitation reaction of electrons and plasma without cross-linking agent on plastic substrate

Abstract Conductive ceramic films, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films, are expected to be used as core semiconducting materials for applications for the Internet of Things (IoT). In this study, we focused on a nonequilibrium excitation reaction field as a bottom-up architecture, and we successfully found the basis of a technology for fabricating the above films using a plasma atmosphere and an electron beam that uniformly emits electrons within a plane as a nonequilibrium reaction field. In particular, the ZnO thin film obtained in this study exhibited good electrical properties, such as a high Hall mobility of 128.3 cm 2 /V, even though it was formed on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film substrate at room temperature. This achievement may contribute to clarifying the mechanism behind the fabrication of highly functional oxide thin films by a two-dimensional simple process without thermal treatment of the substrate during the film formation. Moreover, this technique will also enable us to provide elements for next-generation nanodevices in IoT by controlling the surface and interface of nanostructures as well as highly functional properties using complexes of metals, ceramics, and semiconductors.