UV-Treated ZrO2 Passivation for Transparent and High-Stability In2O3 Thin Film Transistor

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 69; no. 7; pp. 3722 - 3726
• Main Authors: Ding, Yanan, Ren, Yajie, Liu, Guoxia, Shan, Fukai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.07.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aluminum oxide; Electrical stability; Glass substrates; Indium oxides; Indium tin oxide; Indium tin oxides; Passivation; Passivity; Performance evaluation; Radiation damage; Radiation effects; Semiconductor devices; Stability analysis; Substrates; Thermal stability; Thickness; Thin film transistors; transparent electronics; UV photochemical activation; Zirconium dioxide; ZrO₂ passivation
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2022.3175674

Electrical stability is significant in evaluating the application potentials for thin-film transistors (TFTs). In order to enhance the stability of the TFTs, the introduction of passivation layer is considered as an effective strategy. However, the posttreatment in conventional passivation process usually deteriorate the bottom semiconductor layer. In order to minimize the damages to the channel layer, in this work, UV-irradiated ZrO 2 was prepared and integrated into the In 2 O 3 TFT as passivation layer. The device performance dependent on ZrO 2 thickness is investigated. It is found that the electrical performance of the In 2 O 3 TFT is improved with the optimal passivation thickness, and the inherent mechanism is explained. In addition to the high performance, the excellent electrical stability of the passivated device is also confirmed by the positive bias stress test. Furthermore, the transparent ZrO 2 /In 2 O 3 TFTs on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates with Al 2 O 3 dielectrics were successfully demonstrated, which indicates the great potential of ZrO 2 passivation for the fabrication of transparent electronics.