• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.217-217
• /
• 2016

The amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) is widely accepted as a promising channel material for thin-film transistor (TFT) applications owing to their outstanding electrical properties [1, 2]. However, a-IGZO TFTs have still suffered from their bias instability with illumination [1-4]. Up to now, many researchers have studied the sub-gap density of states (DOS) as the root cause of instability. It is well known that defect states can influence on the performances and stabilities of a-IGZO TFTs. The defects states should be closely related with the deposition condition, including sputtering power, and pressure. Nevertheless, it has not been reported how these defects are created during conventional RF magnetron sputtering. In general, during conventional RF magnetron sputtering process, negative oxygen ions (NOIs) can be generated by electron attachment in oxygen atom near target surface and then accelerated up to few hundreds eV by a self-bias; at this time, the high energy bombardment of NOIs induce defects in oxide thin films. Recently, we have reported that the properties of IGZO thin films are strongly related with effects of NOIs which are generated during the sputtering process [5]. From our previous results, the electrical characteristics and the chemical bonding states of a-IGZO thin films were depended with the bombardment energy of NOIs. And also, we suggest that the deep sub-gap states in a-IGZO as well as thin film properties would be influenced by the bombardment of high energetic NOIs during the sputtering process.In this study, we will introduce our novel technology named as Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process to prevent the NOIs bombardment effects and present how much to be improved the properties of a-IGZO thin film by this new deposition method. We deposited a-IGZO thin films by MFSS on SiO2/p-Si and glass substrate at various process conditions, after which we investigated the morphology, optical and electrical properties of the a-IGZO thin films.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.340.2-340.2
• /
• 2014

최근 비정질 산화물 반도체는 가시광 영역에서의 투명도와 낮은 공정 온도, 그리고 높은 Field-effect mobility로 인해 Thin film transistors의 Active channel layer의 재료로 각광 받고 있다. ZnO, IZO, IGO, ITGO등의 많은 산화물 반도체들이 TFT의 채널층으로의 적용을 위해 활발히 연구되고 있으며, 특히 비정질 IGZO는 비정질임에도 불구하고 Mobility가 $10cm^2/Vs$ 정도로 기존의 a-Si:H 보다 높은 Mobility 특성을 나타내고 있어 대화면 디스플레이와 고속 구동을 위한 LCD에 적용 할 수 있으며 또한 낮은 공정 온도로 인해 플렉서블 디스플레이에 응용될 수 있다는 장점이 있다. 우리는 RF magnetron sputtering법으로 증착한 비정질 IGZO TFT(Thin Film Transistors)의 전기적 특성과 IGZO 박막의 특성에 미치는 RF power의 영향을 연구하였다. 제작한 TFTs의 Active channel layer는 산소분압 1%, Room temperature에서 RF power별(50~150 W)로 Si wafer 기판 위에 30nm로 증착 하였고 100 nm의 $SiO_2$가 절연체로 사용되었다. 또한 박막 특성을 분석하기 위해 같은 Chamber 분위기에서 100 nm로 IGZO 박막을 증착하였다. 비정질 IGZO 박막의 X-ray reflectivity(XRR)을 분석한 결과 RF Power가 50 W에서 150 W로 증가 할수록 박막의 Roughness는 22.7 (${\AA}$)에서 6.5 (${\AA}$)로 감소하고 Density는 5.9 ($g/cm^3$)에서 6.1 ($g/cm^3$)까지 증가하는 경향을 보였다. 또한 제작한 IGZO TFTs는 증착 RF Power가 증가함에 따라 Threshold voltage (VTH)가 0.3~4(V)로 증가하는 경향을 나타내고 Filed-effect mobility도 6.2~19 ($cm^2/Vs$)까지 증가하는 경향을 보인다. 또한 on/off ratio는 모두 > $10^6$의 값을 나타내며 subthreshold slope (SS)는 0.3~0.8 (V/decade)의 값을 나타낸다.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.47-49
• /
• 2012

In this paper, we investigated the anomalous hump in the bottom gate staggered a-IGZO TFTs. During the positive bias stress, a positive threshold voltage shift was observed in the transfer curve and an anomalous hump occurred as the stress time increased. The hump became more serious in higher gate bias stress while it was not observed under the negative bias stress. The analysis of constant gate bias stress indicated that the anomalous hump was influenced by the migration of positively charged mobile interstitial zinc ion towards the top side of the a-IGZO channel layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.301.2-301.2
• /
• 2016

Metal-oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) have gained a considerable interest in transparent electronics owing to their high optical transparency and outstanding electrical performance even in an amorphous state. Also, these metal-oxide materials can be solution-processed at a low temperature by using deep ultraviolet (DUV) induced photochemical activation allowing facile integration on flexible substrates [1]. In addition, high-dielectric constant (k) inorganic gate dielectrics are also of a great interest as a key element to lower the operating voltage and as well as the formation of coherent interface with the oxide semiconductors, which may lead to a considerable improvement in the TFT performance. In this study, we investigated the electrical properties of solution-processed high-k strontium-doped AlOx (Sr-AlOx) gate dielectrics. Using the Sr-AlOx as a gate dielectric, indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) TFTs were fabricated and their electrical properties are analyzed. We demonstrate IGZO TFTs with a 10-nm-thick Sr-AlOx gate dielectric which can be operated at a low voltage (~5 V).

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.1208-1211
• /
• 2008

We study the amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors (TFTs) properties under monochromatic illumination ($\lambda=420nm$) with different intensity. TFT off-state drain current ($I_{DS_off}$) was found to increase with the light intensity while field effect mobility ($\mu_{eff}$) is almost unchanged; only small change was observed for sub-threshold swing (S). Due to photo-generated charge trapping, a negative threshold voltage ($V_{th}$) shift is also observed. The photofield-effect analysis suggests a highly efficient UV photocurrent conversion in a-IGZO TFT. Finally, a-IGZO mid-gap density-of-states (DOS) was extracted and is more than an order lower than reported value for a-Si:H, which can explain a good switching properties of the a-IGZO TFTs.

• Journal of Information Display
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.47-50
• /
• 2011

Highly stable amorphous indium.gallium.zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated with an etchstopper and via-hole structure. The TFTs exhibited 40 $cm^2$/V s field-effect mobility and a 0.21 V/dec gate voltage swing. Gate-bias stress induced a negligible threshold voltage shift (${\Delta}V_{th}$) at room temperature. The excellent stability is attribute to the via-hole and etch-stopper structure, in which, the source/drain metal contacts the active a-IGZO layer through two via holes (one on each side), resulting in minimized damage to the a-IGZO layer during the plasma etching of the source/drain metal. The comparison of the effects of the DC and AC stress on the performance of the TFTs at $60^{\circ}C$ showed that there was a smaller ${\Delta}V_{th}$ in the AC stress compared with the DC stress for the same effective stress time, indicating that the trappin of the carriers at the active layer-gate insulator interface was the dominant degradation mechanism.

• Electronic Materials Letters
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.749-754
• /
• 2018

Previous studies have reported on the mechanical robustness and chemical stability of flexible amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) on plastic substrates both in flat and curved states. In this study, we investigate how the polyimide (PI) substrate affects hydrogen concentration in the a-IGZO layer, which subsequently influences the device performance and stability under bias-temperature-stress. Hydrogen increases the carrier concentration in the active layer, but it also electrically deactivates intrinsic defects depending on its concentration. The influence of hydrogen varies between the TFTs fabricated on a glass substrate to those on a PI substrate. Hydrogen concentration is 5% lower in devices on a PI substrate after annealing, which increases the hysteresis characteristics from 0.22 to 0.55 V and also the threshold voltage shift under positive bias temperature stress by 2 ${\times}$ compared to the devices on a glass substrate. Hence, the analysis and control of hydrogen flux is crucial to maintaining good device performance and stability of a-IGZO TFTs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.02a
• /
• pp.252-253
• /
• 2011

ZnO-based thin film transistors (TFTs) are of great interest for application in next generation flat panel displays. Most research has been based on amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) TFTs, rather than single binary oxides, such as ZnO, due to the reproducibility, uniformity, and surface smoothness of the IGZO active channel layer. However, recently, intrinsic ZnO-TFTs have been investigated, and TFT- arrayss have been demonstrated as prototypes of flat-panel displays and electronic circuits. However, ZnO thin films have some significant problems for application as an active channel layer of TFTs; it was easy to change the electrical properties of the i-ZnO thin films under external conditions. The variable electrical properties lead to unstable TFTs device characteristics under bias stress and/or temperature. In order to obtain higher performance and more stable ZnO-based TFTs, HZO thin film was used as an active channel layer. It was expected that HZO-TFTs would have more stable electrical characteristics under gate bias stress conditions because the binding energy of Hf-O is greater than that of Zn-O. For deposition of HZO thin films, Hf would be substituted with Zn, and then Hf could be suppressed to generate oxygen vacancies. In this study, the fabrication of the oxide-based TFTs with HZO active channel layer was reported with excellent stability. Application of HZO thin films as an active channel layer improved the TFT device performance and bias stability, as compared to i-ZnO TFTs. The excellent negative bias temperature stress (NBTS) stability of the device was analyzed using the HZO and i-ZnO TFTs transfer curves acquired at a high temperature (473 K).

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.594-600
• /
• 2014

A threshold voltage compensation pixel circuit was developed for active-matrix organic light emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) using amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors (a-IGZO-TFTs). Oxide TFTs are n-channel TFTs; therefore, we developed a circuit for the n-channel TFT characteristics. The proposed pixel circuit was verified and proved by circuit analysis and circuit simulations. The proposed circuit was able to compensate for the threshold voltage variations of the drive TFT in AMOLEDs. The error rate of the OLED current for a threshold voltage change of 3 V was as low as 1.5%.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.119-122
• /
• 2008

In this paper, we describe the current status and issues of the oxide thin-film transistors (OTFTs), which attract much attention as an emerging new backplane technology replacing conventional silicon-based TFTs technologies. First, the unique benefits of OTFTs will be presented as a backplane for large-sized AMOLED including note-book PC, second TV and HD-TV. And then, the state-of-the-art transistor performance and uniformity characteristics of OTFTs will be highlighted. The obtained a-IGZO TFTs exhibited the field-effect mobility of $18\;cm^2/Vs$, threshold voltage of 1.8 V, on/off ratio of $10^9$, and subthreshold gate swing of 0.28 V/decade. In addition, the world largest-sized 12.1-inch WXGA active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display is demonstrated using indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) TFTs.