Effects of Ambient Air and Temperature on Ionic Gel Gated Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistor and Circuits

Single-walled carbon nanotube thin-film transistor (SWCNT TFT) and circuits were fabricated by fully inkjet printing gold nanoparticles as source/drain electrodes, semiconducting SWCNT thin films as channel materials, PS-PMMA-PS/EMIM TFSI composite gel as gate dielectrics, and PEDOT/PSS as gate electrodes. The ionic gel gated SWCNT TFT shows reversible conversion from p-type transistor behavior in air to ambipolar features under vacuum due to reversible oxygen doping in semiconducting SWCNT thin films. The threshold voltages of ionic gel gated SWCNT TFT and inverters are largely shifted to the low value (0.5 V for p-region and 1.0 V for n-region) by vacuum annealing at 140 °C to exhausively remove water that is incorporated in the ionic gel as floating gates. The vacuum annealed ionic gel gated SWCNT TFT shows linear temperature dependent transconductances and threshold voltages for both p- and n-regions. The strong temperature dependent transconductances (0.08 μS/K for p-region, 0.4 μS/K for n-region) indicate their potential application in thermal sensors. In the other hand, the weak temperature dependent threshold voltages (-1.5 mV/K for p-region, -1.1 mV/K for n-region) reflect their excellent thermal stability.