Making transistors with dissolved nanocrystals

A diagram of a typical field effect transistor. (credit: Wikimedia commons)

Semiconductors are integral to modern electronics. Currently, they're made by etching features into silicon, but researchers are constantly exploring new fabrication approaches that balance cost, energy efficiency, electronic capabilities, and mechanical properties.

Recently, scientists have demonstrated the ability to design and fabricate flexible, high-performance semiconductors out of colloidal nanocrystals. The approach allowed them to lay out the circuitry using simple solution processing, in which the components are put in place while suspended in a liquid. Solution processing is generally cheap and convenient, and it can be used to cover large areas at once.

Field effects

The specific type of device the researchers designed is called a field-effect transistor. In general, transistors are semiconductor devices used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. Field-effect transistors use an electric field in a device called a gate to influence the conductivity of a nearby semiconductor.