Mechanical bending of flexible complementary inverters based on organic and oxide thin film transistors

Flexible complementary inverters composed of p-channel pentacene thin-film transistors (TFTs) and n-channel amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide TFTs were fabricated on polymer substrates. The characteristics of the TFTs and inverters were evaluated at different bending radii. Throughout the bending experiments, the relationship between the performances of the inverters and the characteristics of the TFTs under mechanical deformation was analyzed. The mechanically applied strain led to a change in the voltage transfer characteristics of the complementary inverters, as well as the source–drain saturation current, field-effect mobility and threshold voltage of the TFTs. The switching threshold voltage of the fabricated inverters decreased with decreasing bending radius, which was related to changes in the field-effect mobility and the threshold voltage of the TFTs.

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► Flexible complementary inverters based on pentacene and IGZO thin film transistors were fabricated.
► We evaluated characteristics of devices under mechanical deformation.
► The interrelationship between inverters and transistors was mainly analyzed.