Fabrication of gate electrode for OTFT using screen-printing and wet-etching with nano-silver ink

We have developed a practical printing technology for the gate electrode of organic thin film transistors(OTFTs) by combining screen-printing with wet-etching process using nano-silver ink as a conducting material. The screen-printed and wet-etched Ag electrode exhibited a minimum line width of ~5 um, the thickness of ~65 nm, and a resistivity of ${\sim}10^{-6}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, producing good geometrical and electrical characteristics for gate electrode. The OTFTs with the screen-printed and wet-etched Ag electrode produced the saturation mobility of $0.13cm^2$/Vs and current on/off ratio of $1.79{\times}10^6$, being comparable to those of OTFT with the thermally evaporated Al gate electrode.