Gigahertz operation in flexible transistors on plastic substrates

The combined use of GaAs wires with Ohmic contacts formed from bulk wafers, soft lithographic transfer printing techniques, and optimized device designs enables mechanically flexible transistors to be formed on low-cost plastic substrates, with individual device speeds in the gigahertz range and with high degrees of mechanical bendability. These high-speed devices incorporate materials in simple layouts that can be fabricated with modest lithographic patterning resolution and registration. This letter describes their electrical and mechanical characteristics. The results have the potential to be important to certain large-area, "macroelectronic" systems that can provide for high-speed communication and processing capabilities.