LONDON — A group of researchers at the Centro de Investigação de Materiais within the New University of Lisbon, Portugal, claim they have made the first Field Effect Transistor with a cellulose fiber based paper "interstrate" layer.

The device is said to rival in performance oxide based thin film transistors (TFTs) produced on glass or crystalline silicon substrates.

The group, led by Elvira Fortunato and Rodrigo Martins, plan to publish their results in the September issue of IEEE Electron Device Letters .

The researchers used a common sheet of paper as the dielectric layer on oxide FETs and devices were fabricated on both sides of the paper sheet. This allowed the paper to act simultaneously as an electric insulator and as the substrate.

They note that other teams have reported using paper as the physical support (substrate) of electronic devices, but not also as the interstate component of an FET.

The Portugese group suggests potential applications include use as disposable electronics devices, such as smart labels, paper displays, RFID tags and bio-applications.