Azide-functionalized ligand enabling organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric for high-performance solution-processed oxide transistors

We propose a highly efficient crosslinking strategy for organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric layers using azide-functionalized acetylacetonate, which covalently connect inorganic particles to polymers, enabling highly efficient inter- and intra-crosslinking of organic and inorganic inclusions, resulting in a dense and defect-free thin-film morphology. From the optimized processing conditions, we obtained an excellent dielectric strength of over 4.0 MV cm −1 , a high dielectric constant of ~14, and a low surface energy of 38 mN m −1 . We demonstrated the fabrication of exceptionally high-performance, hysteresis-free n-type solution-processed oxide transistors comprising an In 2 O 3 /ZnO double layer as an active channel with an electron mobility of over 50 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , on/off ratio of ~10 7 , subthreshold swing of 108 mV dec −1 , and high bias-stress stability. From temperature-dependent I–V analyses combined with charge transport mechanism analyses, we demonstrated that the proposed hybrid dielectric layer provides percolation-limited charge transport for the In 2 O 3 /ZnO double layer under field-effect conditions. Low cost and low power consumption of transistors are needed for the development of internet of things. Here Chung et al. develop a high performance n-type oxide thin film transistor by introducing a ligand for crosslinking nanoparticles and polymers, obtaining a near-ideal hybrid dielectric layer.