Nobuhiko Mitoma

Stable amorphous In2O3-based thin-film transistors by incorporating SiO2 to suppress oxygen vacancies

Incorporating SiO2 into amorphous In2O3-based thin films is found to suppress the formation of unstable oxygen vacancies. The SiO2 incorporated thin film transistors exhibited reliable device characteristics after being annealed at 250 °C. Increasing the SiO2 content of the sputtering target decreased the sensitivity of the subthreshold swing and turn-on voltage of the device to the sputtering conditions used to deposit the amorphous oxide, making them more stable against electrical and thermal stresses. The increased activation energy of the charge carriers in the current off region indicated a smaller density of states at the conduction-band tail, supporting stable transistor operations.

Low-temperature processable amorphous In-W-O thin-film transistors with high mobility and stability

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a high stability and a high field-effect mobility have been achieved using W-doped indium oxide semiconductors in a low-temperature process (∼150 °C). By incorporating WO3 into indium oxide, TFTs that were highly stable under a negative bias stress were reproducibly achieved without high-temperature annealing, and the degradation of the field-effect mobility was not pronounced. This may be due to the efficient suppression of the excess oxygen vacancies in the film by the high dissociation energy of the bond between oxygen and W atoms and to the different charge states of W ions.

Dopant selection for control of charge carrier density and mobility in amorphous indium oxide thin-film transistors: Comparison between Si- and W-dopants

The dependence of oxygen vacancy suppression on dopant species in amorphous indium oxide (a-InOx) thin film transistors (TFTs) is reported. In a-InOx TFTs incorporating equivalent atom densities of Si- and W-dopants, absorption of oxygen in the host a-InOx matrix was found to depend on difference of Gibbs free energy of the dopants for oxidation. For fully oxidized films, the extracted channel conductivity was higher in the a-InOx TFTs containing dopants of small ionic radius. This can be explained by a reduction in the ionic scattering cross sectional area caused by charge screening effects.

Codoping of zinc and tungsten for practical high-performance amorphous indium-based oxide thin film transistors

Using practical high-density sputtering targets, we investigated the effect of Zn and W codoping on the thermal stability of the amorphous film and the electrical characteristics in thin film transistors. zinc oxide is a potentially conductive component while W oxide is an oxygen vacancy suppressor in oxide films. The oxygen vacancy from In-O and Zn-O was suppressed by the W additive because of the high oxygen bond dissociation energy. With controlled codoping of W and Zn, we demonstrated a high mobility with a maximum mobility of 40 cm2/V s with good stability under a negative bias stress in InWZnO thin film transistors.

Reduction of the interfacial trap density of indium-oxide thin film transistors by incorporation of hafnium and annealing process

The stable operation of transistors under a positive bias stress (PBS) is achieved using Hf incorporated into InOx-based thin films processed at relatively low temperatures (150 to 250 °C). The mobilities of the Hf-InOx thin-film transistors (TFTs) are higher than 8 cm2/Vs. The TFTs not only have negligible degradation in the mobility and a small shift in the threshold voltage under PBS for 60 h, but they are also thermally stable at 85 °C in air, without the need for a passivation layer. The Hf-InOx TFT can be stable even annealed at 150 °C for positive bias temperature stability (PBTS). A higher stability is achieved by annealing the TFTs at 250 °C, originating from a reduction in the trap density at the Hf-InOx/gate insulator interface. The knowledge obtained here will aid in the realization of stable TFTs processed at low temperatures.

Self-formed copper oxide contact interlayer for high-performance oxide thin film transistors

Oxide thin film transistor employing copper source/drain electrodes shows a small turn on voltage and reduced hysteresis. Cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy image confirmed the formation of ∼4 nm CuOx related interlayer. The lower bond-dissociation energy of Cu-O compared to Si-O and In-O suggests that the interlayer was formed by adsorbing oxygen molecules from surrounding environment instead of getting oxygen atoms from the semiconductor film. The formation of CuOx interlayer acting as an acceptor could suppress the carrier concentration in the transistor channel, which would be utilized to control the turn on voltage shifts in oxide thin film transistors.

Enhanced sensing response of oxidized graphene formed by UV irradiation in water

A small amount of defects (less than 0.01%) were introduced into graphene by irradiating it with ultraviolet (UV) light in water. The chemisorbed oxygen species caused a limited amount of degradation in the charge carrier mobility, while the physisorbed water molecules caused both a reduction in the mobility and hole doping. The oxidation was nonuniform, owing to variations in the potential caused by the metal contacts. Raman spectroscopy measurements revealed that UV irradiation in water promoted mild oxidation of graphenes basal plane, which enhanced the electrical sensing response of the adsorption of water molecules. The enhanced electrical response was achieved by the high binding energy of the water molecules at the oxidized sites and the near-zero Dirac point voltage, easily obtained by desorbing the physisorbed water molecules.

Suppression of excess oxygen for environmentally stable amorphous In-Si-O thin-film transistors

We discuss the environmental instability of amorphous indium oxide (InOx)-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) in terms of the excess oxygen in the semiconductor films. A comparison between amorphous InOx doped with low and high concentrations of oxygen binder (SiO2) showed that out-diffusion of oxygen molecules causes drastic changes in the film conductivity and TFT turn-on voltages. Incorporation of sufficient SiO2 could suppress fluctuations in excess oxygen because of the high oxygen bond-dissociation energy and low Gibbs free energy. Consequently, the TFT operation became rather stable. The results would be useful for the design of reliable oxide TFTs with stable electrical properties.

Gate-controlled ultraviolet photo-etching of graphene edges

The chemical reactivity of graphene under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation is investigated under positive and negative gate electric fields. Graphene edges are selectively etched when negative gate voltages are applied while the reactivity is significantly suppressed for positive gate voltages. Oxygen adsorption onto graphene is significantly affected by the Fermi level of the final state achieved during previous electrical measurements. UV irradiation after negative-to-positive gate sweeps causes predominant oxygen desorption while UV irradiation after gate sweeps in the opposite direction causes etching of graphene edges.

Controllable film densification and interface flatness for high-performance amorphous indium oxide based thin film transistors

To avoid the problem of air sensitive and wet-etched Zn and/or Ga contained amorphous oxide transistors, we propose an alternative amorphous semiconductor of indium silicon tungsten oxide as the channel material for thin film transistors. In this study, we employ the material to reveal the relation between the active thin film and the transistor performance with aid of x-ray reflectivity study. By adjusting the pre-annealing temperature, we find that the film densification and interface flatness between the film and gate insulator are crucial for achieving controllable high-performance transistors. The material and findings in the study are believed helpful for realizing controllable high-performance stable transistors.