Gravure printed low voltage polymer transistors and inverters

• Thin (down to 200 nm) films were gravure printed using commercial polymer inks.
• Single layer printing on plastic substrate without ink or surface modification.
• Printed thin film transistors show good performance and no hysteresis.
• Stable materials: air, vacuum or nitrogen processing show no difference.
• Printed transistors connected as inverters operate down to 5 volts.

We present a gravure printed low voltage transistor using commercial polymer materials. Patterned thin layers (down to 200 nm) were formed by single printing steps on polyethylene terephthalate substrates which had pre-patterned metal electrodes. Materials were air stable and there was no need for substrate or metal electrode pre-treatment. Good electrical performance with minimal hysteresis was achieved. Low voltage operation is demonstrated with inverter circuits, which operate down to 5 volts.