Contents I. Introduction
Large-area electronics (LAE) is a technology that enables unique capabilities for sensing. This is a consequence of its characteristically low processing temperatures (), which promote compatibility with a wide range of materials and fabrication methods. This in turn enables a variety of transducers [1]–[5] fabricated on substrates, such as glass, plastic, and paper, which can be large (square meters) and conform to underlying surfaces. However, a key challenge to the creation of complete systems is the integration of other required functionality (instrumentation, computation, power management, and so on). Thin-film transistors (TFTs) could provide this functionality in LAE, as recent work demonstrating various TFT circuit blocks has shown [6]–[10]. However, low process temperatures cause the performance and energy efficiency of TFTs to be orders-of-magnitude lower than those of silicon-CMOS transistors. For example, silicon-CMOS transistor values fall between 200 and 300 GHz, while those of LAE TFTs are typically 1–10 MHz [11], [12].
