Abstract
The long-term reliability of InZnO (IZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) under a hydrogen-containing environment is researched. Hydrogen incorporation induces hydroxyl groups and oxygen vacancies, leading to the generation of electrons and extra random trap/emission processes in the IZO films. Consequently, the electrical properties and low frequency noise characteristics of IZO TFTs are deteriorated under the long-term hydrogen treatment. Additionally, the recovery characteristics of IZO TFTs after the hydrogen treatment demonstrate that the hydrogen induced hydroxyl groups and oxygen vacancies remain stable at room temperature. The oxygen vacancies can be eliminated, while the hydroxyl groups may still exist at a high temperature. These results may provide useful guidelines in the design and application of IZO TFTs.
Highlights
Amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are considered to be one of promising devices for applying in the flat panel display and flexible integrated circuits due to their high electron mobility, large switching ratio, good uniformity, and electrical stability [1]
The threshold voltage (Vth) of IZO thin film transistors (TFTs) is extracted by the extrapolation in the linear region method [10]
The mechanism of such deterioration can be explained by the hydrogen diffusion into the IZO films, which induces VO and OHgroups and generates more electrons in the channel of IZO TFTs
Summary
Amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are considered to be one of promising devices for applying in the flat panel display and flexible integrated circuits due to their high electron mobility, large switching ratio, good uniformity, and electrical stability [1]. IZO TFTs are expected to be applied in sealed environments such as spacecraft, high-energy particle accelerators and medical detectors [2, 3]. These devices will suffer from a long-term hydrogen incorporation in such conditions. It is reported that the hydrogen incorporation is one of the main defect types in the active layer of metal-oxide TFTs [4] This process often happens during deposition with annealing under certain conditions, or by the diffusion from the gate dielectric and etch stopper/passivation layer [4, 5]. The degradation mechanism of IZO TFTs under long-term hydrogen stress can be characterized by LFN measurement results. The corresponding failure mechanism of IZO TFTs under the hydrogen stress was analyzed and discussed
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