A team of researchers from Nagoya University (Japan), in collaboration with a team of researchers from the University of Aalto (Finland), was successfully fabricated on a plastic substrate, a printed circuit in carbon nanotubes.
The development of flexible printed circuits aroused great interest from industry, especially for the manufacture of electronic paper. Several techniques to fabricate TFT (thin film transistor) are flexible to date. One is to use semiconductor silicon or zinc oxide, but the manufacturing processes are complex (heat treatment, vacuum process). The use of organic materials is also under consideration but they still have a low electron mobility. Another promising solution is the use of carbon nanotubes are known for their high electron mobility.
Until now, scientists could produce transistors with carbon nanotubes by a method of coating from a liquid solution of nanotubes. It is nevertheless difficult, according to researchers, to obtain by this method of thin uniform layers. Moreover, it is difficult to completely get rid of the solvent.
Click to continue »
The development of flexible printed circuits aroused great interest from industry, especially for the manufacture of electronic paper. Several techniques to fabricate TFT (thin film transistor) are flexible to date. One is to use semiconductor silicon or zinc oxide, but the manufacturing processes are complex (heat treatment, vacuum process). The use of organic materials is also under consideration but they still have a low electron mobility. Another promising solution is the use of carbon nanotubes are known for their high electron mobility.