Emerging materials and applications from thermally evaporated electronic films

Abstract

The electronics community remains deeply engaged in the pursuit of large-area and high-quality electronic materials that can be produced through cost-effective approaches. However, numerous mainstream candidates encounter significant challenges, including the scarcity and high cost of essential components, substantial manufacturing expenses, inadequate stability, and difficulties in achieving large-scale fabrication. Thermal evaporation, a well-established technique for material deposition, has attracted substantial attention in the electronic device industry due to its versatility. This method is not only free from toxic solvents but also enables precise control over film thickness, and integrates seamlessly with complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the principles and techniques associated with thermal evaporation, as well as the electronic materials produced by this method. It covers dielectric, semiconductor, and conductor materials, along with their applications in transistors and circuits, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes, resistive random-access memory, neuromorphic devices, solar cells, X-ray detectors, imaging and health monitoring technologies. Ultimately, insights and perspectives on the future development of this field are discussed.