Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H) has recently received significant attention as a promising material for thin-film transistors (TFTs) in large area electronics due to its high electron and hole charge carrier mobilities. We report on ambipolar TFTs based on microcrystalline silicon prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at temperature of 160 degrees C with high electron and hole charge carrier mobilities of 40 cm(2)/Vs and 10 cm(2)/Vs. respectively. The ambipolar microcrystalline silicon TFTs provide a simple route in realizing large area integrated circuits at low cost. The electrical characteristics of the ambipolar microcrystalline silicon TFTs will be described and the first results on ambipolar inverters will be presented. The influence of the ambipolar TFT characteristics on the performance of the inverter will be also discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.