High electron mobility in nano-composite thin film transistors

Researchers from Cambridge University and the London Centre for Nanotechnology have demonstrated extremely high electron mobility in nano-composite thin film transistors using zinc oxide and organic semiconductors.

Organic semiconductors  are often limited by their lower field-effect mobility, with high-performance n-type devices proving a particular challenge. Professor Arokia Nathan's work uses a technique for combining zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures synthesized using vapor phase deposition with organic semiconductors to create nano-composite thin film transistors with the highest reported electron field-effect mobility in solution processed devices.

A dispersion of ZnO nanorods in an n-type organic semiconductor ([6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester, PCBM) are shown to enhance the electron field effect mobility by as much as a factor or 40 from the pristine state. The results although preliminary, show a highly promising enhancement for realization of high-performance solution-processable n-type organic TFTs.

 More information available from:

Li FM, Nathan A, Dalal S, et al. Zinc Oxide Nanostructures and High Electron Mobility Nanocomposite Thin Film Transistor. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. 2008:55(11):3001-11. DOI: 10.1109/TED.2008.2005180