Thin Film Transistors Fabricated in Printed Silicon

We report the fabrication of thin film transistors (TFTs) from printed silicon. The printing is performed by irradiating a hydrogenated amorphous silicon-coated quartz wafer facing a glass substrate with a high-energy laser pulse. The ensuing explosive effusion of hydrogen from the layer results in transfer of the silicon onto the glass substrate. Adhesion and smoothing of the transferred film is ensured by high-energy laser annealing. Top-gate TFTs were fabricated in this material using standard photolithographic processing and ion implantation. These transistors, which have reasonable electrical characteristics, are the first step towards the fabrication of directly printed electronic devices.