Wiley‐SID Volume Delivers Latest Developments in Transparent Oxide Semiconductor Technology

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AMORPHOUS OXIDE SEMIconductors (AOS) are a class of electronic materials that has seen significant rapid developments. Their success in the market is secured by the synergistic effects arising between favorable material properties and the ability to control them, a good understanding of the underlying properties that govern the electronic behavior, comparatively straightforward and economical processing, and a receptive audience in the information display community. These materials have helped satisfy the need for lower power consumption, higher brightness, faster refresh rates, and higher resolution. It is not surprising that they have rapidly established a strong position in the emerging field of high-performance portable and large-area displays. With the pace of this technical innovation showing no sign of wavering, pioneering researchers and editors Hideo Hosono and Hideya Kumomi have assembled contributions from more than 50 experts to produce a comprehensive reference text, Amorphous Oxide Semiconductors: IGZO and Related Materials for Display and Memory, in the Wiley-SID book series. The book's subtitle hints at the large family of highly versatile properties and focuses primarily on displays and memory. It emphasizes current leading applications, while also featuring a discussion of broader uses where it is most relevant or instructive. Structured in eight parts, the book begins with chapters that provide a valuable overview of the history, physical and electronic structures of oxide semiconductors, along with their properties in comparison to silicon and the need for applications. A major section follows on fundamentals covering material properties and structure, defects, doping, and conduction. This solid foundation provides an essential understanding for the sections that follow: informative chapters on processing, with a focus on synthesis, solution processing for flexible electronics, and recent advances in atomic layer deposition with applications for thin-film transistors (TFTs) using a variety of active materials. This segues into a handful of chapters on all aspects of transistor design and usage: treating high-performance bulk accumulation and elevated-metal TFT architectures, the origin and control of instabilities, modeling and simulation, and matters concerning oxide TFT applicability to flexible electronics and signal-processing arrays. The final two parts cover state-of-the-art applications and new materials. Applications focus mostly on displays, including those realized with printed techniques, imagers, and memory. These are complemented by chapters on backend line integration of oxide TFTs and neuromorphic chips using AOS devices, which introduce a wide range of future and emerging applications and techniques that lie outside of traditional areas. The section on materials covers light-emitting diodes, electroluminescent displays, and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, as well as high-mobility AOS and progress in p-type materials for TFTs. The broad range of activity presented in both materials and applications is encouraging and confirms that where some applications have reached full technical maturity, there is significant room for development as well as an interest in broader uses. A careful examination of the sections revealed a measure of overlap in information among different chapters. However, given the breadth of applications covered, a degree of repetition on the basics of material and transport properties is unavoidable. For students or those less experienced in the field, it presents an opportunity to assimilate major themes through the viewpoints of several expert authors. In this regard, the book does an excellent job of reinforcing and subtly complementing the critical notions, repeatedly relating materials, process conditions, and structure to electrical performance. Most chapters have ample and relevant reference lists, including numerous milestone publications that will provide useful starting points for future literature searches as the field evolves. AOS is demonstrably successful and highly promising in diverse applications. Processing versatility allows for the realization of flexible electronic systems, and recent advances in controlling layers and interfaces are yielding highly efficient and low-operating-voltage devices. The editors demonstrate that the range of AOS applications likely will expand significantly, not only in the stated areas of displays and memories, but promisingly beyond. The book serves as a valuable reference for traditional applications and as a landmark in the development of these versatile electronic materials. The text is easy to navigate and rich in detailed information, which should satisfy a wide readership in both academia and industry at various levels of experience. Radu A. Sporea is a lecturer in power electronics and semiconductor devices at the Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey.