The next generation of electronics for mobile and wearable devices requires integrated circuits that are flexible and energy-efficient. Manufacturing processes to meet these needs must go beyond traditional fabrication capabilities and explore new materials, while providing a low-cost, scalable solution.

Dr. Cherie Kagan’s research group at the University of Pennsylvania has fabricated the first transistors entirely made from colloidal nanocrystals (NCs). NCs are promising for electronics because their properties can be tuned by changing the particle size and surface chemistry.

In this new work, NCs are deposited using an additive method to create a field effect transistor (FET). New processing steps have been developed to engineer metallic, semiconducting, and insulating NCs into stable and compatible integrated layers. This process eliminates high-temperature processing steps so the FET can be patterned on a flexible plastic substrate.

• All-nanocrystal fabrication
• Compatible with flexible electronics
• Low-voltage, high performance FETs
• Scalable process for large-scale device fabrication