Photoresist-Free Fully Self-Patterned Transparent Amorphous Oxide Thin-Film Transistors Obtained by Sol-Gel Process

We demonstrated self-patterned solution-processed amorphous oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) using photosensitive sol-gels. The photosensitive sol-gels were synthesized by adding β-diketone compounds, i.e., benzoylacetone and acetylacetone, to sol-gels. The chemically modified photosensitive sol-gels showed a high optical absorption at specific wavelengths due to the formation of metal chelate bonds. Photoreactions of the modified solutions enabled a photoresist-free process. Moreover, Zn–Sn–O with a high Sn ratio, which is hard to wet-etch using conventional photolithography due to its chemical durability, was easily patterned via the self-patterning process. Finally, we fabricated a solution-processed oxide TFT that included fully self-patterned electrodes and an active layer.