On the Figures of Merit of reduced Graphene Oxide Transistors: what needed for reliable applications

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is a promising alternative to graphene for the fabrication of cost-effective thin-film transistors (TFTs). Despite its interesting electrochemical properties, the rGO-TFT technology is still relative immature, especially from an electronic engineer point of view. In this work, the performance and properties of rGO-TFTs are critically investigated by considering the requirements to design rGO-based analogue and digital applications. Therefore, three fundamental figures of merit are introduced and discussed: i) intrinsic gain; i)) the trade-off between maximum transistor current and ON-OFF ratio; iii) univocal definition of the Dirac Voltage. The utility of these figures of merit is demonstrated by characterizing rGO- TFTs fabricated by two different reduction methods, showing the importance of proper fabrication protocols to optimize TFTs ‘ performance.