The next generation of optoelectronic devices, i.e. solar cells,
optical displays, optical sensors, will strongly benefit from the emerging field
of transparent electronics. The backbone of this technology is the unusual
family of materials namely transparent metal oxides. Here we report on the
use of spray pyrolysis (SP) for the deposition of oxide semiconductors and the
fabrication of transparent thin-film transistors (TFTs) and integrated circuits.
SP combines the advantages of solution processing, compatibility with large
area deposition, relatively low temperature processing and the ability to
deliver high quality and optically transparent semiconducting films. The SP
method is compatible with a wide range of oxide precursors which enables the
deposition of not only transparent semiconductors but also conductive as well
as insulating oxide layers. To demonstrate the suitability of this technique for
the fabrication of transparent electronics we fabricate high mobility TFTs and
integrated circuits based on a range of oxide semiconductors including ZnO
and TiO2. Temperature dependence charge transport studies, performed on
selected materials systems, reveal a band like transport behaviour, providing
further supporting evidences on the superior quality of the deposited films.
Finally, the effect of chemical doping via simple physical blending with various elements is also discussed.