• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.5-5
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• 2009

Thin-film-transistors (TFTs) that can be prepared at low temperatures have attracted much attention because of the great potential for transparent and flexible electronics. One of the mainstreams in this field is the use of organic semiconductors such as pentacene. But device performance of the organic TFTs is still limited due to low field-effect mobility and rapid degradation after exposing to air. Alternative approach is the use of amorphous oxide semiconductors as a channel. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) based TFTs showed the fast technological development, because AOS films can be fabricated at room temperature and exhibit the possibility in application like flexible display, electronic paper, and larges solar cells. Among the various AOSs, a-IGZO has lots of advantages because it has high channel mobility, uniform surface roughness and good transparency. [1] The high mobility is attributed to the overlap of spherical s-orbital of the heavy post-transition metal cations. This study demonstrated the effect of the variation in channel thickness from 30nm to 200nm on the TFT device performance. When the thickness was increased, turn-on voltage and subthreshold swing was decreased. The a-IGZO channels and source/drain metals were deposited with shadow mask. The a-IGZO channel layer was deposited on $SiO_2$/p-Si substrates by RF magnetron sputtering, where RF power is 150W. And working pressure is 3m Torr, at $O_2/Ar$ (2/28 sccm) atmosphere. The electrodes were formed with electron-beam evaporated Ti (30 nm) and Au (70 nm) bilayer. Finally, Al (150nm) as a gate metal was thermal-evaporated. TFT devices were heat-treated in a furnace at 250 $^{\circ}C$ and nitrogen atmosphere for 1hour. The electrical properties of the TFTs were measured using a probe-station. The TFT with channel thickness of 150nm exhibits a good subthreshold swing (SS) of 0.72 V/decade and on-off ratio of $1{\times}10^8$. The field effect mobility and threshold voltage were evaluated as 7.2 and 8 V, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.137-137
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• 2009

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) that can be prepared at low temperatures have attracted much attention due to the great potential for flexible electronics. One of the mainstreams in this field is the use of organic semiconductors such as pentacene. But device performance of the organic TFTs is still limited by low field effect mobility or rapidly degraded after exposing to air in many cases. Another approach is amorphous oxide semiconductors. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) have exactly attracted considerable attention because AOSs were fabricated at room temperature and used lots of application such as flexible display, electronic paper, large solar cells. Among the various AOSs, a-IGZO was considerable material because it has high mobility and uniform surface and good transparent. The high mobility is attributed to the result of the overlap of spherical s-orbital of the heavy pest-transition metal cations. This study is demonstrated the effect of thickness channel layer from 30nm to 200nm. when the thickness was increased, turn on voltage and subthreshold swing were decreased. a-IGZO TFTs have used a shadow mask to deposit channel and source/drain(S/D). a-IGZO were deposited on SiO2 wafer by rf magnetron sputtering. using power is 150W, working pressure is 3m Torr, and an O2/Ar(2/28 SCCM) atmosphere at room temperature. The electrodes were formed with Electron-beam evaporated Ti(30nm) and Au(70nm) structure. Finally, Al(150nm) as a gate metal was evaporated. TFT devices were heat treated in a furnace at $250^{\circ}C$ in nitrogen atmosphere for an hour. The electrical properties of the TFTs were measured using a probe-station to measure I-V characteristic. TFT whose thickness was 150nm exhibits a good subthreshold swing(S) of 0.72 V/decade and high on-off ratio of 1E+08. Field effect mobility, saturation effect mobility, and threshold voltage were evaluated 7.2, 5.8, 8V respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.40-40
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• 2008

$InGaZnO_4$ based thin film transistors (TFTs) are of interest for large area and low cost electronics. The TFTs have strong potential for application in flat panel displays and portable electronics due to their high field effect mobility, high on/off current ratios, and high optical transparency. The application of such room temperature processed transistors, however, is often limited by the operation voltage and long-tenn stability. Therefore, attaining an optimum thickness is necessary. We investigated the thickness dependence of a room temperature grown $MgO_{0.3}BST_{0.7}$ composite gate dielectric and an $InGaZnO_4$ (IGZO) active semiconductor on the electrical characteristics of thin film transistors fabricated on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The TFT characteristics were changed markedly with variation of the gate dielectric and semiconductor thickness. The optimum gate dielectric and active semiconductor thickness were 300 nm and 30 nm, respectively. The TFT showed low operating voltage of less than 4 V, field effect mobility of 21.34 cm2/$V{\cdot}s$, an on/off ratio of $8.27\times10^6$, threshold voltage of 2.2 V, and a subthreshold swing of 0.42 V/dec.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.187-187
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• 2012

Solution-processed metal-alloy oxides such as indium zinc oxide (IZO), indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) has been extensively researched due to their high electron mobility, environmental stability, optical transparency, and solution-processibility. In spite of their excellent material properties, however, there remains a challenging problem for utilizing IZO or IGZO in electronic devices: the supply shortage of indium (In). The cost of indium is high, what is more, indium is becoming more expensive and scarce and thus strategically important. Therefore, developing an alternative route to improve carrier mobility of solution-processable ZnO is critical and essential. Here, we introduce a simple route to achieve high-performance and low-temperature solution-processed ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs) by employing alkali-metal doping such as Li, Na, K or Rb. Li-doped ZnO TFTs exhibited excellent device performance with a field-effect mobility of $7.3cm^2{\cdot}V-1{\cdot}s-1$ and an on/off current ratio of more than 107. Also, in case of higher drain voltage operation (VD=60V), the field effect mobility increased up to $11.45cm^2{\cdot}V-1{\cdot}s-1$. These all alkali metal doped ZnO TFTs were fabricated at maximum process temperature as low as $300^{\circ}C$. Moreover, low-voltage operating ZnO TFTs was fabricated with the ion gel gate dielectrics. The ultra high capacitance of the ion gel gate dielectrics allowed high on-current operation at low voltage. These devices also showed excellent operational stability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.264-264
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• 2016

최근에 charge trap flash (CTF) 기술은 절연막에 전하를 트랩과 디트랩 시킬 때 인접한 셀 간의 간섭현상을 최소화하여 오동작을 줄일 수 있으며 낸드 플래시 메모리 소자에 적용되고 있다. 낸드 플래시 메모리는 고집적화, 대용량화와 비휘발성 등의 장점으로 인해 핸드폰, USB, MP3와 컴퓨터 등에 이용되고 있다. 기존의 실리콘 기반의 플래시 메모리 소자는 좁은 밴드갭으로 인해 투명하지 않고 고온에서의 공정이 요구되는 문제점이 있다. 따라서, 이러한 문제점을 개선하기 위해 실리콘의 대체 물질로 산화물 반도체 기반의 플래시 메모리 소자들이 연구되고 있다. 산화물 반도체 기반의 플래시 메모리 소자는 넓은 밴드갭으로 인한 투명성을 가지고 있으며 저온에서 공정이 가능하여 투명하고 유연한 기판에 적용이 가능하다. 다양한 산화물 반도체 중에서 비정질 In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO)는 비정질임에도 불구하고 우수한 전기적인 특성과 화학적 안정성을 갖기 때문에 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 플래시 메모리의 고집적화가 요구되면서 절연막에 high-k 물질을 atomic layer deposition (ALD) 방법으로 적용하고 있다. ALD 방법을 이용하면 우수한 계면 흡착력과 균일도를 가지는 박막을 정확한 두께로 형성할 수 있는 장점이 있다. 또한, high-k 물질을 절연막에 적용하면 높은 유전율로 인해 equivalent oxide thickness (EOT)를 줄일 수 있다. 특히, HfOx와 AlOx가 각각 trap layer와 blocking layer로 적용되면 program/erase 동작 속도를 증가시킬 수 있으며 넓은 밴드갭으로 인해 전하손실을 크게 줄일 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 ALD 방법으로 AlOx와 HfOx를 게이트 절연막으로 적용한 a-IGZO 기반의 thin-film transistor (TFT) 플래시 메모리 소자를 제작하여 메모리 특성을 평가하였다. 제작 방법으로는, p-Si 기판 위에 열성장을 통한 100 nm 두께의 SiO2를 형성한 뒤, 채널 형성을 위해 RF sputter를 이용하여 70 nm 두께의 a-IGZO를 증착하였다. 이후에 소스와 드레인 전극에는 150 nm 두께의 In-Sn-O (ITO)를 RF sputter를 이용하여 증착하였고, ALD 방법을 이용하여 tunnel layer에 AlOx 5 nm, trap layer에 HfOx 20 nm, blocking layer에 AlOx 30 nm를 증착하였다. 최종적으로, 상부 게이트 전극을 형성하기 위해 electron beam evaporator를 이용하여 platinum (Pt) 150 nm를 증착하였고, 계면 결함을 최소화하기 위해 퍼니스에서 질소 가스 분위기, $400^{\circ}C$, 30 분의 조건으로 열처리를 했다. 측정 결과, 103 번의 program/erase를 반복한 endurance와 104 초 동안의 retention 측정으로부터 큰 열화 없이 메모리 특성이 유지되는 것을 확인하였다. 결과적으로, high-k 물질과 산화물 반도체는 고성능과 고집적화가 요구되는 향후 플래시 메모리의 핵심적인 물질이 될 것으로 기대된다.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.721-726
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• 2017

We fabricated stretchable thin-film transistors(TFTs) on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate with patterned polyimide island structures by using an amorphous InGaZnO semiconductor and parylene gate insulator. The TFTs exhibited a field- effect mobility of $5cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$ and a current on/off ratio of $10^5$ at a relatively low operating voltage. Furthermore, the fabricated transistors showed no noticeable changes in their electrical performance for large strains of up to 50 %.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.211-216
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• 2020

Amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) thin film transistors, because of their relatively low mobility, have limits in attempts to fulfill high-end specifications for display backplanes. In-Zn-O (IZO) is a promising semiconductor material for high mobility device applications with excellent transparency to visible light region and low temperature process capability. In this paper, the effects of working pressure on the physical and electrical properties of IZO films and thin film transistors are investigated. The working pressure is modulated from 2 mTorr to 5 mTorr, whereas the other process conditions are fixed. As the working pressure increases, the extracted optical band gap of IZO films gradually decreases. Absorption coefficient spectra indicate that subgap states increase at high working pressure. Furthermore, IZO film fabricated at low working pressure shows smoother surface morphology. As a result, IZO thin film transistors with optimum conditions exhibit excellent switching characteristics with high mobility (≥ 30㎠/Vs) and large on/off ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.273.2-273.2
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• 2014

Sputtering process has been widely used in Si-based semiconductor industry and it is also an ideal method to deposit transparent oxide materials for thin-film transistors (TFTs). The oxide films grown at low temperature by conventional RF sputtering process are typically amorphous state with low density including a large number of defects such as dangling bonds and oxygen vacancies. Those play a crucial role in the electron conduction in transparent electrode, while those are the origin of instability of semiconducting channel in oxide TFTs due to electron trapping. Therefore, post treatments such as high temperature annealing process have been commonly progressed to obtain high reliability and good stability. In this work, the scheme of electron-assisted RF sputtering process for high quality transparent oxide films was suggested. Through the additional electron supply into the plasma during sputtering process, the working pressure could be kept below $5{\times}10-4Torr$. Therefore, both the mean free path and the mobility of sputtered atoms were increased and the well ordered and the highly dense microstructure could be obtained compared to those of conventional sputtering condition. In this work, the physical properties of transparent oxide films such as conducting indium tin oxide and semiconducting indium gallium zinc oxide films grown by electron-assisted sputtering process will be discussed in detail. Those films showed the high conductivity and the high mobility without additional post annealing process. In addition, oxide TFT characteristics based on IGZO channel and ITO electrode will be shown.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.170-170
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• 2012

최근 주목받고 있는 amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs)는 수소가 첨가된 비정질 실리콘 TFT (a-Si;H)에 비해 비정질 상태에서도 높은 이동도와 뛰어난 전기적, 광학적 특성에 의해 큰 주목을 받고 있다. 또한 넓은 밴드갭에 의해 가시광 영역에서 투명한 특성을 보이고, 플라스틱 기판 위에서 구부러지는 성질에 의해 플랫 패널 디스플레이나 능동 유기 발광 소자 (AM-OLED), 투명 디스플레이에 응용되고 있다. 하지만, 실제 디스플레이가 동작하는 동안 스위칭 TFT는 백라이트 또는 외부에서 들어오는 빛에 지속적으로 노출되게 되고, 이 빛에 의해서 TFT 소자의 신뢰성에 악영향을 끼친다. 또한, 디스플레이가 장시간 동안 동작 하면 내부 온도가 상승하게 되고 이에 따른 온도에 의한 신뢰성 문제도 동시에 고려되어야 한다. 특히, 실제 AM-LCD에서 스위칭 TFT는 양의 게이트 전압보다 음의 게이트 전압에 의해서 약 500 배 가량 더 긴 시간의 스트레스를 받기 때문에 음의 게이트 전압에 대한 신뢰성 평가는 대단히 중요한 이슈이다. 스트레스에 의한 문턱 전압의 변화는 게이트 절연막과 반도체 채널 사이의 계면 또는 게이트 절연막의 벌크 트랩에 의한 것으로 게이트 절연막의 선택에 따라서 신뢰성을 효과적으로 개선시킬 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 적층된 $Si_3N_4/SiO_2$ (NO 구조) 이중층 구조를 게이트 절연막으로 사용하고, 완충층의 역할을 하는 $SiO_2$막의 두께에 따른 소자의 전기적 특성 및 신뢰성을 평가하였다. a-IGZO TFT 소자의 전기적 특성과 신뢰성 평가를 위하여 간단한 구조의 pseudo-MOS field effect transistor (${\Psi}$-MOSFET) 방법을 이용하였다. 제작된 소자의 최적화된 $SiO_2$ 완충층의 두께는 20 nm이고 $12.3cm^2/V{\cdot}s$의 유효 전계 이동도, 148 mV/dec의 subthreshold swing, $4.52{\times}10^{11}cm^{-2}$의 계면 트랩, negative bias illumination stress에서 1.23 V의 문턱 전압 변화율, negative bias temperature illumination stress에서 2.06 V의 문턱 전압 변화율을 보여 뛰어난 전기적, 신뢰성 특성을 확인하였다.