Metal oxide (MO) semiconductor thin films prepared from solution typically require multiple hours of thermal annealing to achieve optimal lattice densification, efficient charge transport, and stable device operation, presenting a major barrier to roll-to-roll manufacturing. Here, we report a highly efficient, cofuel-assisted scalable combustion blade-coating (CBC) process for MO film growth, which involves introducing both a fluorinated fuel and a preannealing step to remove deleterious organic contaminants and promote complete combustion. Ultrafast reaction and metal-oxygen-metal (M-O-M) lattice condensation then occur within 10-60 s at 200-350 °C for representative MO semiconductor [indium oxide (In2O3), indium-zinc oxide (IZO), indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO)] and dielectric [aluminum oxide (Al2O3)] films. Thus, wafer-scale CBC fabrication of IGZO-Al2O3 thin-film transistors (TFTs) (60-s annealing) with field-effect mobilities as high as ∼25 cm2 V-1 s-1 and negligible threshold voltage deterioration in a demanding 4,000-s bias stress test are realized. Combined with polymer dielectrics, the CBC-derived IGZO TFTs on polyimide substrates exhibit high flexibility when bent to a 3-mm radius, with performance bending stability over 1,000 cycles.
Keywords: blade coating; combustion synthesis; solution process; thin-film transistor; ultrashort annealing time.