Due to a lack of grain boundaries, an amorphous metal thin film (AMTF) possesses advantageous mechanical properties and enhanced chemical stability that is potentially useful for thermal inkjet (TIJ) printing applications. The use of an AMTF as a TIJ resistor or cavitation plate could lead to a thinner TIJ cavitation...
Nanostructured ZnO films were obtained via thermal oxidation of thin films formed with metallic Zn-nanoparticle dispersions. Commercial zinc nanoparticles used for this work were characterized by microscopic and thermal analysis methods to analyze the Zn-ZnO core shell structure, surface morphology and oxidation characteristics. These dispersions were spin-coated on SiO₂/Si substrates...
Thin-film transistors (TFTs) are primarily used as a switching element in liquid crystal
displays. Currently, amorphous silicon is the dominant TFT technology for displays, but
higher performance TFTs will become necessary to enable ultra-definition resolution
high-frequency large-area displays. Amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO) TFTs were
fabricated by RF magnetron sputter...
The central focus of this thesis is the design, fabrication and characterization of amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistor (TFT) current mirrors. The thin-film deposition and circuit fabrication methods used to realize zinc tin oxide (ZTO) TFT
current mirrors are addressed in order to elucidate the processing challenges for this...
As electronics reach nanometer size scales, new avenues of integrating biology and electronics become available. For example, nanoscale field-effect transistors have been integrated with single neurons to detect neural activity. Researchers have also used nanoscale materials to build electronic ears and noses. Another exciting development is the use of nanoscale...
Biological organisms, phenomena and strategies, herein referred to as biological systems, provide a rich set of analogies that can be used to inspire engineering innovation. Biologically-inspired, or biomimetic, designs are publicly viewed as creative and novel solutions to human problems. Moreover, some biomimetic designs have become so commonplace that it...
Amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistors (TFTs) constitute the central theme of this thesis. Within this theme, three primary areas of focus are pursued.
The first focus is the realization of a transparent three-stage ring oscillator with buffered output and an output frequency in the megahertz range. This leads to...
Increased interest in the field of sensor technology stems from the availability of an inexpensive and robust sensor to detect and quantify the presence of a specific gas. Bulk p-CuO/n-ZnO heterocontact based gas sensors have been shown to exhibit the necessary sensitivity and selectivity characteristics, however, low interfacial CuO/ZnO contact...
The objective of this thesis is to introduce and demonstrate a novel magnetic bead detector based on inductive detection at the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequency for use in bio-sensing applications. Detection ability is demonstrated through theoretical arguments, numerical computer simulations, and experimental characterization of micro-fabricated detectors.
The detector is composed...
The primary objective of this thesis is to develop a process for fabricating integrated circuits based on thin-film transistors (TFTs) using zinc tin oxide (ZTO) as the channel layer. ZTO, in contrast to indium- or gallium-based amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS), is perceived to be a more commercially viable AOS choice...