• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.47-49
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• 2012

In this paper, we investigated the anomalous hump in the bottom gate staggered a-IGZO TFTs. During the positive bias stress, a positive threshold voltage shift was observed in the transfer curve and an anomalous hump occurred as the stress time increased. The hump became more serious in higher gate bias stress while it was not observed under the negative bias stress. The analysis of constant gate bias stress indicated that the anomalous hump was influenced by the migration of positively charged mobile interstitial zinc ion towards the top side of the a-IGZO channel layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.309-309
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• 2009

In-Ga-Zn-O (IGZO) has drawn much attention as a compatible material for transparent thin film transistors (TTFT) channel layer due to its high mobility and optical transparency at low processing temperatures. In this work, we investigated the effect of oxygen ambient on structural, electrical and optical properties of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (IGZO) thin films by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The films were deposited at various oxygen pressures and the structural, electrical and optical properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that amorphous IGZO films were grown at all oxygen pressures. The surface morphology and optical properties with various oxygen pressures were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV-VIS spectroscopy, respectively. The grain boundary was observed more apparently and the calculated optical band gap became larger as oxygen pressure increased. To examine the electrical properties, Hall-effect measurements were carried out. The films showed high mobility.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.524-526
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• 2009

The effects of In and Ga contents on characteristics of InGaZnO (IGZO) films grown by a sol-gel method and their thin film transistors (TFTs) have been investigated. Excess In incorporation into IGZO enhances the field effect mobilities of the TFTs due to the increase in conducting path ways, and decreases the grain size and the surface roughness of the films because more $InO_2^-$ ions induce cubic stacking faults with IGZO. Ga incorporation into results in decrease in carrier concentration of films and off-current of TFTs since Ga ion forms stronger chemical bonds with oxygen than Zn and In ions, acting as a carrier killer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.311-311
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• 2016

최근 고성능 디스플레이 개발이 요구되면서 기존 비정질 실리콘(a-Si)을 대체할 산화물 반도체에 대한 연구 관심이 급증하고 있다. 여러 종류의 산화물 반도체 중 a-IGZO (amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide)가 높은 전계효과 이동도, 저온 공정, 넓은 밴드갭으로 인한 투명성 등의 장점을 가지며 가장 연구가 활발하게 보고되고 있다. 기존에는 SG(단일 게이트) TFT가 주로 제작 되었지만 본 연구에서는 DG(이중 게이트) 구조를 적용하여 고성능의 a-IGZO 기반 박막 트랜지스터(TFT)를 구현하였다. SG mode에서는 하나의 게이트가 채널 전체 영역을 제어하지만, double gate mode에서는 상, 하부 두 개의 게이트가 동시에 채널 영역을 제어하기 때문에 채널층의 형성이 빠르게 이루어지고, 이는 TFT 스위칭 속도를 향상시킨다. 또한, 상호 모듈레이션 효과로 인해 S.S(subthreshold swing)값이 낮아질 뿐만 아니라, 상(TG), 하부 게이트(BG) 절연막의 계면 산란 현상이 줄어들기 때문에 이동도가 향상되고 누설전류 감소 및 안정성이 향상되는 효과를 얻을 수 있다. Dual gate mode로 동작을 시키면, TG(BG)에는 일정한 positive(or negative)전압을 인가하면서 BG(TG)에 전압을 가해주게 된다. 이 때, 소자의 채널층은 depletion(or enhancement) mode로 동작하여 다른 전기적인 특성에는 영향을 미치지 않으면서 문턱 전압을 쉽게 조절 할 수 있는 장점도 있다. 제작된 소자는 p-type bulk silicon 위에 thermal SiO2 산화막이 100 nm 형성된 기판을 사용하였다. 표준 RCA 클리닝을 진행한 후 BG 형성을 위해 150 nm 두께의 ITO를 증착하고, BG 절연막으로 두께의 SiO2를 300 nm 증착하였다. 이 후, 채널층 형성을 위하여 50 nm 두께의 a-IGZO를 증착하였고, 소스/드레인(S/D) 전극은 BG와 동일한 조건으로 ITO 100 nm를 증착하였다. TG 절연막은 BG 절연막과 동일한 조건에서 SiO2를 50 nm 증착하였다. TG는 S/D 증착 조건과 동일한 조건에서, 150 nm 두께로 증착 하였다. 전극 물질과, 절연막 물질은 모두 RF magnetron sputter를 이용하여 증착되었고, 또한 모든 patterning 과정은 표준 photolithography, wet etching, lift-off 공정을 통하여 이루어졌다. 후속 열처리 공정으로 퍼니스에서 질소 가스 분위기, $300^{\circ}C$ 온도에서 30 분 동안 진행하였다. 결과적으로 $9.06cm2/V{\cdot}s$, 255.7 mV/dec, $1.8{\times}106$의 전계효과 이동도, S.S, on-off ratio값을 갖는 SG와 비교하여 double gate mode에서는 $51.3cm2/V{\cdot}s$, 110.7 mV/dec, $3.2{\times}108$의 값을 나타내며 훌륭한 전기적 특성을 보였고, dual gate mode에서는 약 5.22의 coupling ratio를 나타내었다. 따라서 산화물 반도체 a-IGZO TFT의 이중게이트 구조는 우수한 전기적 특성을 나타내며 차세대 디스플레이 시장에서 훌륭한 역할을 할 것으로 기대된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.169-169
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• 2010

As display industry requires various applications for future display technology, which can guarantees high level of flexibility and transparency on display panel, oxide semiconductor materials are regarded as one of the best candidates. $InGaZnO_4$(IGZO) has gathered much attention as a post-transition metal oxide used in active layer in thin-film transistor. Due to its high mobility fabricated at low temperature fabrication process, which is proper for application to display backplanes and use in flexible and/or transparent electronics. Electrical performance of amorphous oxide semiconductors depends on the resistance of the interface between source/drain metal contact and active layer. It is also affected by sheet resistance on IGZO thin film. Controlling contact/sheet resistance has been a hot issue for improving electrical properties of AOS(Amorphous oxide semiconductor). To overcome this problem, post-annealing has been introduced. In other words, through post-annealing process, saturation mobility, on/off ratio, drain current of the device all increase. In this research, we studied on the relation between device's resistance and post-annealing temperature. So far as many post-annealing effects have been reported, this research especially analyzed the change of electrical properties by increasing post-annealing temperature. We fabricated 6 main samples. After a-IGZO deposition, Samples were post-annealed in 5 different temperatures; as-deposited, $100^{\circ}C$, $200^{\circ}C$, $300^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$ and $500^{\circ}C$. Metal deposition was done on these samples by using Mo through E-beam evaporation. For analysis, three analysis methods were used; IV-characteristics by probe station, surface roughness by AFM, metal oxidation by FE-SEM. Experimental results say that contact resistance increased because of the metal oxidation on metal contact and rough surface of a-IGZO layer. we can suggest some of the possible solutions to overcome resistance effect for the improvement of TFT electrical performances.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.278-278
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• 2016

Solution-processed metal-oxide semiconductors have been considered as the next generation semiconducting materials for transparent and flexible electronics due to their high electrical performance. Moreover, since the oxide semiconductors show high sensitivity to light illumination and possess persistent photoconductivity (PPC), these properties can be utilized in realizing optical memory devices, which can transport information much faster than the electrons. In previous works, metal-oxide semiconductors are utilized as a memory device by using the light (i.e. illumination does the "writing", no-gate bias recovery the "reading" operations) [1]. The key issues for realizing the optical memory devices is to have high photoconductivity and a long life time of free electrons in the oxide semiconductors. However, mono-layered indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) and mono-layered indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) have limited photoconductivity and relaxation time of 570 nA, 122 sec, 190 nA and 53 sec, respectively. Here, we boosted up the photoconductivity and relaxation time using a double-layered IZO/IGZO active layer structure. Solution-processed IZO (top) and IGZO (bottom) layers are prepared on a Si/SiO2 wafer and we utilized the conventional thermal annealing method. To investigate the photoconductivity and relaxation time, we exposed 9 mW/cm2 intensity light for 30 sec and the decaying behaviors were evaluated. It was found that the double-layered IZO/IGZO showed high photoconductivity and relaxation time of 28 uA and 1048 sec.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.239-244
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• 2017

We experimentally investigate the physical mechanism for asymmetrical degradation in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) under simultaneous gate and drain bias stresses. The transfer curves exhibit an asymmetrical negative shift after the application of gate-to-source ($V_{GS}$) and drain-to-source ($V_{DS}$) bias stresses of ($V_{GS}=24V$, $V_{DS}=15.9V$) and ($V_{GS}=22V$, $V_{DS}=20V$), but the asymmetrical degradation is more significant after the bias stress ($V_{GS}$, $V_{DS}$) of (22 V, 20 V) nevertheless the vertical electric field at the source is higher under the bias stress ($V_{GS}$, $V_{DS}$) of (24 V, 15.9 V) than (22 V, 20 V). By using the modified external load resistance method, we extract the source contact resistance ($R_S$) and the voltage drop at $R_S$ ($V_{S,\;drop}$) in the fabricated a-IGZO TFT under both bias stresses. A significantly higher RS and $V_{S,\;drop}$ are extracted under the bias stress ($V_{GS}$, $V_{DS}$) of (22 V, 20V) than (24 V, 15.9 V), which implies that the high horizontal electric field across the source contact due to the large voltage drop at the reverse biased Schottky junction is the dominant physical mechanism causing the asymmetrical degradation of a-IGZO TFTs under simultaneous gate and drain bias stresses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.258-258
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• 2016

최근 디스플레이 산업의 발전에 따라 고성능 디스플레이가 요구되며, 디스플레이의 백플레인 (backplane) TFT (thin film transistor) 구동속도를 증가시키기 위한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 트랜지스터의 구동속도를 증가시키기 위해 높은 이동도는 중요한 요소 중 하나이다. 그러나, 기존 백플레인 TFT에 주로 사용된 amorphous silicon (a-Si)은 대면적화가 용이하며 가격이 저렴하지만, 이동도가 낮다는 (< $1cm2/V{\cdot}s$) 단점이 있다. 따라서 전기적 특성이 우수한 산화물 반도체가 기존의 a-Si의 대체 물질로써 각광받고 있다. 산화물 반도체는 비정질 상태임에도 불구하고 a-Si에 비해 이동도 (> $10cm2/V{\cdot}s$)가 높고, 가시광 영역에서 투명하며 저온에서 공정이 가능하다는 장점이 있다. 하지만, 차세대 디스플레이 백플레인에서는 더 높은 이동도 (> $30cm2/V{\cdot}s$)를 가지는 TFT가 요구된다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 차세대 디스플레이에서 요구되는 높은 이동도를 갖는 TFT를 제작하기 위하여, amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) 채널하부에 화학적으로 안정하고 전도성이 뛰어난 SnO2 채널을 얇게 형성하여 TFT를 제작하였다. 표준 RCA 세정을 통하여 p-type Si 기판을 세정한 후, 열산화 공정을 거쳐서 두께 100 nm의 SiO2 게이트 절연막을 형성하였다. 본 연구에서 제안된 적층된 채널을 형성하기 위하여 5 nm 두계의 SnO2 층을 RF 스퍼터를 이용하여 증착하였으며, 순차적으로 a-IGZO 층을 65 nm의 두께로 증착하였다. 그 후, 소스/드레인 영역은 e-beam evaporator를 이용하여 Ti와 Al을 각각 5 nm와 120 nm의 두께로 증착하였다. 후속 열처리는 퍼니스로 N2 분위기에서 $600^{\circ}C$의 온도로 30 분 동안 실시하였다. 제작된 소자에 대하여 TFT의 전달 및 출력 특성을 비교한 결과, SnO2 층을 형성한 TFT에서 더 뛰어난 전달 및 출력 특성을 나타내었으며 이동도는 $8.7cm2/V{\cdot}s$에서 $70cm2/V{\cdot}s$로 크게 향상되는 것을 확인하였다. 결과적으로, 채널층 하부에 SnO2 층을 형성하는 방법은 추후 높은 이동도를 요구하는 디스플레이 백플레인 TFT 제작에 적용이 가능할 것으로 기대된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.301.2-301.2
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• 2016

Metal-oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) have gained a considerable interest in transparent electronics owing to their high optical transparency and outstanding electrical performance even in an amorphous state. Also, these metal-oxide materials can be solution-processed at a low temperature by using deep ultraviolet (DUV) induced photochemical activation allowing facile integration on flexible substrates [1]. In addition, high-dielectric constant (k) inorganic gate dielectrics are also of a great interest as a key element to lower the operating voltage and as well as the formation of coherent interface with the oxide semiconductors, which may lead to a considerable improvement in the TFT performance. In this study, we investigated the electrical properties of solution-processed high-k strontium-doped AlOx (Sr-AlOx) gate dielectrics. Using the Sr-AlOx as a gate dielectric, indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) TFTs were fabricated and their electrical properties are analyzed. We demonstrate IGZO TFTs with a 10-nm-thick Sr-AlOx gate dielectric which can be operated at a low voltage (~5 V).

• Electronic Materials Letters
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.749-754
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• 2018

Previous studies have reported on the mechanical robustness and chemical stability of flexible amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) on plastic substrates both in flat and curved states. In this study, we investigate how the polyimide (PI) substrate affects hydrogen concentration in the a-IGZO layer, which subsequently influences the device performance and stability under bias-temperature-stress. Hydrogen increases the carrier concentration in the active layer, but it also electrically deactivates intrinsic defects depending on its concentration. The influence of hydrogen varies between the TFTs fabricated on a glass substrate to those on a PI substrate. Hydrogen concentration is 5% lower in devices on a PI substrate after annealing, which increases the hysteresis characteristics from 0.22 to 0.55 V and also the threshold voltage shift under positive bias temperature stress by 2 ${\times}$ compared to the devices on a glass substrate. Hence, the analysis and control of hydrogen flux is crucial to maintaining good device performance and stability of a-IGZO TFTs.