Micro-Engraving UV-Sensitive Thin-Film Transistor from Metal–Metal Oxide Nanoparticles with Band-Gap Engineering

As known, n-type inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles such as zinc oxide nanoparticles have been explored in various sensing applications, which demand high-density electronic elements placement for rapid operation. Herein, high-resolution designs of conductive channels of noble metal-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles is demonstrated using an engraving transfer printing process and silver metal doping approach. Such thin-film transistors with reduced feature size to 2 µm fabricated exhibited significantly enhanced electron mobility up 3.46 × 10⁻² cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and light sensitivity. Furthermore, the integration of this micropatterning technology and metal doping in thin-film transistors is utilized for control of current–voltage characteristics under the ultraviolet radiation with high sensitivity. It is suggested that this approach to design of doped inorganic nanoparticle channels paves the way for high-density thin-film transistors suitable for optoelectronic circuit, UV photodetectors and neuromorphic computing systems.