Improvement of Thermal and Environmental Stabilities of Short Channel Coplanar Amorphous InGaZnO Thin‐Film Transistors by Introducing Amorphous ZrAlOx Interlayer

Abstract

The short channel coplanar amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a‐IGZO) thin‐film transistor (TFT) is reported by introducing a ZrAlO x (ZAO) interlayer deposited by spray pyrolysis at the substrate temperature of 350 °C. The atomic ratio (at. %) of In:Ga:Zn:O is 1:2.5:1.2:5.2 in the a‐IGZO film deposited by sputtering. The a‐IGZO TFT with ZAO layer with 0.87 μm channel length exhibits the field‐effect mobility of 6.44 cm2 V−1 s−1, the threshold voltage of −2.16 V, and on/off current ratio of 7.6 × 107. It is found from the X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profile and high‐resolution transmission electron microscope analysis that some Zr atoms diffuse into the a‐IGZO underlayer. The formation of ZrO bonds on a‐IGZO surface region reduces the carrier concentration in the a‐IGZO TFT offset region, between source/drain contact and the channel, and blocks the carrier diffusion into the channel. This reduces the field‐effect mobility of 10 μm channel length TFT from 21.86 to 14.01 cm2 V−1 s−1, but the ZAO layer protects the a‐IGZO from the diffusion of H2O and O2. As a result, 0.87 μm TFT shows high on/off current ratio and stable under 85 °C and 85% relative humidity test for 2 days.