High-speed microwave thin-film transistors based on transferrable semiconductor nanomembranes

This paper covers the aspects of material preparation, device fabrication, and process integration using transferrable monocrystalline silicon (Si) nanomembranes (NM) for flexible electronics operating in high frequency domain. Methods of releasing Si NM from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) source substrates and transferring it to flexible substrates are briefly described. The evolvement of radio frequency (RF) flexible Si thin-film transistors (TFT) structures is described in detail. The continuous performance enhancement of TFTs owning to process and TFT structure innovations is analyzed. Due to the intrinsic similarity between flexible monocrystalline Si nanomembrane based devices and the commercial rigid Si devices, effectively adopting the mature techniques used in rigid semiconductor industry is promising to boost flexible device performance in the future.