Electrical Characteristics of Ultrathin InZnO Thin-Film Transistors Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition

In this article, enhancement-mode thin-film transistors (TFTs) with atomic layer deposition (ALD)-derived ultrathin (≈3 nm) amorphous indium–zinc oxide (a-IZO) channel were demonstrated. Our devices showed improved device characteristics as benchmarked with thicker IZO thin-film channels. The ALD-deposited IZO channel TFT with an In/Zn ratio of ≈6:4 exhibited a high field-effect channel mobility ( $\mu _{\text {FE}}{)}$ of 53.6 cm2/V-s, a threshold voltage ( ${V}_{\text {th}}{)}$ of 0.28 V, a low subthreshold gate swing of 74 mV/decade, an $I_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}/I_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ ratio of > $10^{{9}}$ , and a contact resistance of 0.18 $\text{k}\Omega $ - $\mu \text{m}$ after 300°C anneal in oxygen atmosphere. Physical analysis, including X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) photoelectron spectra of IZO films, was conducted to understand the mechanisms of enhancement in electrical performance after annealing. The threshold voltages of the TFT also exhibited high stability ( $\Delta {V}_{\text {th, PBS}} < 16$ mV and $\Delta {V}_{\text {th, NBS}} < 12$ mV) after positive bias stress (PBS) and negative bias stress (NBS) test for 3600 s. To the best of our knowledge, we reported the TFT with thinnest IZO ternary oxide semiconductor (OS) channel exhibiting superior channel mobility and subthreshold characteristics.