Bendable electronic parts heat up by themselves like ‘heat pack’ and lower the manufacturing temperature barrier

Recently, electronic devices that are easily bendable or thin have become part of our daily lives. Electronic devices such as smart watches, bendable screens, and wearable sensors provide enhanced convenience and versatility and are expected to be used in various fields in the future. To develop these products, flexible and robust electronic components are crucial.

Thin film transistors are critical to making flexible electronics and must be made very thin and precisely. In particular, the liquid-phase process of applying coating materials in a liquid state is suitable for low-cost mass production. However, they are limited by the high temperatures required to produce high-quality films, making them difficult to apply to flexible substrates such as thermosensitive plastics. Therefore, researchers are working to develop new manufacturing methods to reduce temperatures while maintaining high performance.

To overcome these limitations, Professor Kwon’s team used a “combustion synthesis” method. Just as the heating pack itself generates heat to heat, this method uses the heat generated within the material during the liquid process to produce a high-performance oxide film without increasing the external temperature. The research team used this method to produce high-performance thin film transistors on plastic substrates at temperatures as low as 250 degrees Celsius.

The transistors they developed are superior to existing products in terms of flexibility and durability. It has excellent electrical performance even on thin and flexible plastic substrates and demonstrated stable operation in more than 5,000 cycles of bend testing. In other words, it is suitable for the next generation of flexible electronics and wearable devices.

“Conventional liquid-phase materials have great advantages in terms of high connectivity with printing technology, but they also have limitations, such as requiring high temperatures to form excellent films. Therefore, it is difficult to apply them to flexible electrical engineering and computer science Professor Kwon from the department said: “The results of this research pave the way for expanded applications in various fields by significantly reducing the process temperature of high-performance liquid phase materials. “

Dr. Jang Bong-ho is the first author and Professor Kwon is the corresponding author. The study was published online in the journal npj flexible electronics. The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Future Fusion Technology Pioneer STEAM Research Program and the Nanomaterials Technology Development Program.