High-Performance Transparent Silicon Nanowire Thin Film Transistors Integrated on Glass Substrates via a Room Temperature Solution Passivation

Catalytic synthesized ultrathin silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are ideal 1D channel materials to fabricate high-performance transparent and low-cost thin film transistors (TFTs) that are widely needed for flexible electronics and displays. In this work, a scalable integration of orderly array of SiNW array, with a uniform diameter of only 52 +/- 4 nm, grown directly upon glass/wafer substrates, via a guided in-plane solid-liquid-solid (IPSLS) process, and passivated by a new solution oxidizing/etching cycling technique is demonstrated. This has enabled an all-low-temperature (<350 degrees C) fabrication of high-performance SiNW-TFTs, achieving I-on/I-off current ratio and subthreshold swing (SS) of >10(6) and 120 mV dec(-1) respectively, with excellent negative and positive bias stabilities. Importantly, the SiNW-TFTs fabricated on glasses with ITO/or metal electrodes demonstrate a high transparency of 90% or 73% respectively, making them ideal candidates for building the next generation of high aperture displays, transparent electronics, and augmented reality applications.