Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors

Despite their potential use as pixel-switching elements in displays, the bias and light instability of mixed oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) still limit their application to commercial products. Lack of reproducible results due to the sensitivity of the mixed oxides to air exposure...

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Main Authors: Mallory Mativenga, Jae Gwang Um, Jin Jang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-08-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/7/9/885
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author Mallory Mativenga
Jae Gwang Um
Jin Jang
author_facet Mallory Mativenga
Jae Gwang Um
Jin Jang
author_sort Mallory Mativenga
collection DOAJ
description Despite their potential use as pixel-switching elements in displays, the bias and light instability of mixed oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) still limit their application to commercial products. Lack of reproducible results due to the sensitivity of the mixed oxides to air exposure and chemical contamination during or after fabrication hinders any progress towards the achievement of stable performance. Consequently, one finds in literature several theories and mechanisms, all justified, but most of them conflict despite being on the same subject matter. In this study, we show that under an optimized fabrication process, which involves the in situ passivation of a mixed oxide semiconductor, we can reduce the bias and light instability of the mixed-oxide semiconductor TFTs by decreasing the semiconductor thickness. We achieve a negligible threshold voltage shift under negative bias combined with light illumination stress when the mixed oxide semiconductor thickness is around three nanometers. The improvement of stability in the thin mixed-oxide semiconductor TFTs is due to a reduced number of oxygen-vacancy defects in the bulk of the semiconductor, as their total number decreases with decreasing thickness. Under the optimized fabrication process, bulk, rather than interfacial defects, thus seem to be the main source of the bias and light instability in mixed oxide TFTs.
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spelling doaj.art-d26621cdedda42caa31c4083c0c9451d2022-12-22T02:44:42ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172017-08-017988510.3390/app7090885app7090885Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film TransistorsMallory Mativenga0Jae Gwang Um1Jin Jang2Department of Information Display, Kung Hee University, Seoul 02447, KoreaDepartment of Information Display, Kung Hee University, Seoul 02447, KoreaDepartment of Information Display, Kung Hee University, Seoul 02447, KoreaDespite their potential use as pixel-switching elements in displays, the bias and light instability of mixed oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) still limit their application to commercial products. Lack of reproducible results due to the sensitivity of the mixed oxides to air exposure and chemical contamination during or after fabrication hinders any progress towards the achievement of stable performance. Consequently, one finds in literature several theories and mechanisms, all justified, but most of them conflict despite being on the same subject matter. In this study, we show that under an optimized fabrication process, which involves the in situ passivation of a mixed oxide semiconductor, we can reduce the bias and light instability of the mixed-oxide semiconductor TFTs by decreasing the semiconductor thickness. We achieve a negligible threshold voltage shift under negative bias combined with light illumination stress when the mixed oxide semiconductor thickness is around three nanometers. The improvement of stability in the thin mixed-oxide semiconductor TFTs is due to a reduced number of oxygen-vacancy defects in the bulk of the semiconductor, as their total number decreases with decreasing thickness. Under the optimized fabrication process, bulk, rather than interfacial defects, thus seem to be the main source of the bias and light instability in mixed oxide TFTs.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/7/9/885oxidestabilitythin film transistor
spellingShingle Mallory Mativenga
Jae Gwang Um
Jin Jang
Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
Applied Sciences
oxide
stability
thin film transistor
title Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
title_full Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
title_fullStr Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
title_full_unstemmed Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
title_short Reduction of Bias and Light Instability of Mixed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
title_sort reduction of bias and light instability of mixed oxide thin film transistors
topic oxide
stability
thin film transistor
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/7/9/885
work_keys_str_mv AT mallorymativenga reductionofbiasandlightinstabilityofmixedoxidethinfilmtransistors
AT jaegwangum reductionofbiasandlightinstabilityofmixedoxidethinfilmtransistors
AT jinjang reductionofbiasandlightinstabilityofmixedoxidethinfilmtransistors