Getting it down on paper
Researchers from the Centro de Investigação de Materiais (Cenimat/I3N), at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa claim to have made the first field effect transistor (FET) with a paper interstrate layer. The device is said to offer similar levels of performance to oxide based thin film transistors (TFTs) produced on glass or crystalline silicon substrates.
The research group – coordinated by Elvira Fortunato and Rodrigo Martins – used a common sheet of paper as the dielectric layer on oxide FETs. Devices were fabricated on both sides of the paper sheet, allowing the paper to act simultaneously as an electric insulator and as the substrate.
Applications are envisaged in disposable electronics devices, including paper displays, smart labels, smart packaging, bioapplications and RFID.
