Water-Soluble Thin Film Transistors and Circuits Based on Amorphous Indium–Gallium–Zinc Oxide

This paper presents device designs, circuit demonstrations, and dissolution kinetics for amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) comprised completely of water-soluble materials, including SiNx, SiOx, molybdenum, and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Collections of these types of physically transient a-IGZO TFTs and 5-stage ring oscillators (ROs), constructed with them, show field effect mobilities (∼10 cm2/Vs), on/off ratios (∼2 × 106), subthreshold slopes (∼220 mV/dec), Ohmic contact properties, and oscillation frequency of 5.67 kHz at supply voltages of 19 V, all comparable to otherwise similar devices constructed in conventional ways with standard, nontransient materials. Studies of dissolution kinetics for a-IGZO films in deionized water, bovine serum, and phosphate buffer saline solution provide data of relevance for the potential use of these materials and this technology in temporary biomedical implants.