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High-mobility ultrathin semiconducting films prepared by spin coating

Nature volume 428, pages 299–303 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The ability to deposit and tailor reliable semiconducting films (with a particular recent emphasis on ultrathin systems) is indispensable for contemporary solid-state electronics1,2,3. The search for thin-film semiconductors that provide simultaneously high carrier mobility and convenient solution-based deposition is also an important research direction, with the resulting expectations of new technologies (such as flexible or wearable computers, large-area high-resolution displays and electronic paper) and lower-cost device fabrication4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Here we demonstrate a technique for spin coating ultrathin (∼50 Å), crystalline and continuous metal chalcogenide films, based on the low-temperature decomposition of highly soluble hydrazinium precursors. We fabricate thin-film field-effect transistors (TFTs) based on semiconducting SnS2-xSex films, which exhibit n-type transport, large current densities (>105 A cm-2) and mobilities greater than 10 cm2 V-1 s-1—an order of magnitude higher than previously reported values for spin-coated semiconductors. The spin-coating technique is expected to be applicable to a range of metal chalcogenides, particularly those based on main group metals, as well as for the fabrication of a variety of thin-film-based devices (for example, solar cells12, thermoelectrics13 and memory devices14).

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Figure 1: Crystal structure and thermal properties of the hydrazinium precursor.
Figure 2: Chemical and structural properties of solution-processed chalcogenide films.
Figure 3: Diagram of transistor, with TEM cross-section of spin-coated semiconductors.
Figure 4: Device characteristics for spin-coated chalcogenide channel layers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Dimitrakopoulos for discussions, and D. Martinez, S. J. Chey, D. DiMilia, K. Fogel and T. Graham for technical assistance with the preparation of the substrates.

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  1. IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York, 10598, USA

    David B. Mitzi, Laura L. Kosbar, Conal E. Murray, Matthew Copel & Ali Afzali

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  1. David B. Mitzi
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Correspondence to David B. Mitzi.

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Mitzi, D., Kosbar, L., Murray, C. et al. High-mobility ultrathin semiconducting films prepared by spin coating. Nature 428, 299–303 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02389

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