Direct roll transfer printed silicon nanoribbon arrays based high-performance flexible electronics

Transfer printing of high mobility inorganic nanostructures, using an elastomeric transfer stamp, is a potential route for high-performance printed electronics. Using this method to transfer nanostructures with high yield, uniformity and excellent registration over large area remain a challenge. Herein, we present the ‘direct roll transfer’ as a single-step process, i.e., without using any elastomeric stamp, to print nanoribbons (NRs) on different substrates with excellent registration (retaining spacing, orientation, etc.) and transfer yield (∼95%). The silicon NR based field-effect transistors printed using direct roll transfer consistently show high performance i.e., high on-state current (Ion) >1 mA, high mobility (μeff) >600 cm2/Vs, high on/off ratio (Ion/off) of around 106, and low hysteresis (<0.4 V). The developed versatile and transformative method can also print nanostructures based on other materials such as GaAs and thus could pave the way for direct printing of high-performance electronics on large-area flexible substrates.