Nano-wire field-effect transistor in etched ion tracks of flexible polymer foils
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Nano-wire field-effect transistor in etched ion tracks of flexible polymer foils Jie Chen. S. Klaumünzer and R. Könenkamp1 Hahn-Meitner Institut Berlin, Glienicker Straße 100, 14109 Berlin, Germany 1 Physics Department, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97201, USA ABSTRACT We have used irradiation by fast heavy ions and subsequent etching to prepare cylindrical channels in polymer/metal/polymer stacks. These channels were subsequently filled with insulator and semiconductor material, and then provided with suitable metallic contacts, to obtain a vertical field-effect transistor device. Preparation and first electronic results on this new device are reported. Typically 107 to 108 transistors per cm2 with a diameter of ~100 nm can be obtained in this technique. The fabrication does not require lithography on the scale of a single transistor, and is suitable for large-area applications. The embedding in a soft polymer matrix results in a robust arrangement, whose electronic characteristics are largely insensitive to mechanical stress. At the present stage of development the smallest dimension of a single transistor grown by this technique is ~50 nm. Further reduction of the device dimensions appears possible and, with it, observation of single electron effects in these devices. INTRODUCTION Fast heavy ions offer a unique possibility to produce well-defined and extremely small structures in the near-surface region of practically all solids. This remarkable capability is due to the extremely limited extent of the impact volume: There is in most cases a very small region of direct structural material conversion extending typically some 10 Å around the ion track. The penetration depth of fast ions is typically more than several micrometers allowing a rather deep structural modification. This modification can consist of chemical bond rupture, vacancy formation or crystal structure changes. In some cases crystalline-to-amorphous transitions and their converse, amorphous-to-crystalline transitions, have been observed. While the discussion on the fundamental processes giving rise to these changes is still going on, there have already appeared several interesting applications for materials modified by fast ions. These include membranes, field emitting structures and others. Due to their small impact volume heavy ion beams are ideally suited for the fabrication of electronic devices on the nanoscale. Here we present results on the fabrication of a first complex nanostructure, consisting of a stack of ionexposed thin films, processed by etching and subsequent template growth of a semiconductor material, to produce a new flexible transistor arrangement. Nanoscale size definition and flexible device structures are presently among the most ambitious development goals in the semiconductor field. Various devices, including transistors, sensors, detectors and switches are presently pursued. There are, however, several key problems that limit the progress in this area. For example, organic materials have not been devel
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