• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.620-624
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• 2015

We have studied structural, optical and electrical properties of In-Ga-doped ZnO (IGZO) thin films. The IGZO thin films were deposited on the corning 1737 glass by RF magnetron sputtering method. The RF power in sputtering process was varied as 30, 50, 70, and 90 W respectively. All of the IGZO thin films transmittance in the visible range (400 nm ~ 800 nm) was above 83%. XRD analysis showed the IGZO thin films amorphous structure of the thin films without any peak. And also IGZO thin film have low resistivity ($1.99{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$), high carrier concentration ($6.4{\times}10^{20}cm^{-3}$), and mobility ($10.3cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$). By the studies we found that IGZO transparent thin film can be used as optoelectronic material and introduced application possibility for future electronic devices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.510-514
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• 2013

In order to prevent heat loss that occurs through the glass, low-emissivity (Low-E) coating methods with good insulating properties and high transmittance were used. InGaZnO/Ag/InGaZnO (IGZO/Ag/IGZO) multilayer thin films have been deposited on XG glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. Depending on the different thickness of Ag in multilayer films, the structural and optical properties of Low-E multilayer films were analyzed. By XRD analysis results, the multilayer thin films were observed to be amorphous structure regardless of Ag thickness. According to the AFM results, surface morphology of the multilayer films was observed and compared. Using UV-VIS spectroscopy, low emissivity property has been observed clearly with the transmittance of higher than 85% at visible range and lower than 30% at IR range.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.338.2-338.2
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• 2014

투명반도체산화물은 우수한 광학적, 전기적 특성을 가지고 있기 때문에 차세대 박막트랜지스터의 채널층으로 각광을 받고 있다. 특히, 그 중에서도 a-IGZO를 이용한 TFT는 높은 가시광선 투과율(>80%)과 큰 전하이동도(>10 cm2/Vs) 를 갖는 등 좋은 광학적, 전기적 특성을 갖기 때문에 많은 연구가 이루어졌다. 여러 연구들에 의하면, a-IGZO TFT는 소스/드레인의 전극으로 어떤 물질을 사용하는지에 따라서 동작특성에 큰 영향을 미치는 것으로 알려져 있다. 일반적으로, a-IGZO 박막은 n형 반도체로써 일함수가 작은 금속과는 ohmic contact를 형성하고, 일함수가 큰 금속과는 Schottky barrier를 형성한다고 알려져 있다. 이와 관련된 대부분의 이전의 연구들에서는 각각의 전극물질에 따라 전기적인 특성변화에 초점을 맞춰서 연구하였다. 본 연구에서는 일함수가 작은 Ag와 일함수가 큰 Au를 a-IGZO의 박막 위에 얇게 증착하면서 이에 따른 고분해능 광전자분광(high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) 정보의 변화를 분석함으로써, 금속의 증착에 따른 금속층과 a-IGZO 표면 및 계면에서의 화학적 상태의 변화를 연구하였다. Au 4f, Ag 3d는 metallic property를 나타내기 이전까지는 lower binding energy(BE) 쪽으로 shift하였으며, In 3d 또한 lower BE 성분이 크게 증가하였다. O 1s, Ga 3d, Zn 3d들은 상대적으로 적은 변화를 나타내었는데, 이는 Ag, Au가 In과 상대적으로 더 많이 상호작용한다는 것을 의미한다. 본 발표에서는 이들 core level의 정보들과, 가전자대의 분광정보, 그리고 band bending의 정보가 제시될 것이며, 이 정보들은 metal 증착에 따른 contact 특성을 이해하는데 기여할 것으로 기대한다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.466-468
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• 2012

Amorphous InGaZnO (${\alpha}$-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are are very promising due to their potential use in thin film electronics and display drivers [1]. However, the stability of AOS-TFTs under the various stresses has been issued for the practical AOSs applications [2]. Up to now, many researchers have studied to understand the sub-gap density of states (DOS) as the root cause of instability [3]. Nomura et al. reported that these deep defects are located in the surface layer of the ${\alpha}$-IGZO channel [4]. Also, Kim et al. reported that the interfacial traps can be affected by different RF-power during RF magnetron sputtering process [5]. It is well known that these trap states can influence on the performances and stabilities of ${\alpha}$-IGZO TFTs. Nevertheless, it has not been reported how these defect states are created during conventional RF magnetron sputtering. In general, during conventional RF magnetron sputtering process, negative oxygen ions (NOI) can be generated by electron attachment in oxygen atom near target surface and accelerated up to few hundreds eV by self-bias of RF magnetron sputter; the high energy bombardment of NOIs generates bulk defects in oxide thin films [6-10] and can change the defect states of ${\alpha}$-IGZO thin film. In this paper, we have confirmed that the NOIs accelerated by the self-bias were one of the dominant causes of instability in ${\alpha}$-IGZO TFTs when the channel layer was deposited by conventional RF magnetron sputtering system. Finally, we will introduce our novel technology named as Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process [9-10] to eliminate the NOI bombardment effects and present how much to be improved the instability of ${\alpha}$-IGZO TFTs by this new deposition method.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.648-652
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• 2014

We have investigated the effect of electrical properties of amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) by post thermal annealing in $O_2$ ambient. The post-annealed in $O_2$ ambient a-IGZOTFT is found to be more stable to be used for oxide-based TFT devices, and has better performance, such as the on/off current ratios, sub-threshold voltage gate swing, and, as well as reasonable threshold voltage, than others do. The interface trap density is controlled to achieve the optimum value of TFT transfer and output characteristics. The device performance is significantly affected by adjusting the annealing condition. This effect is closely related with the modulation annealing method by reducing the localized trapping carriers and defect centers at the interface or in the channel layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.11-11
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• 2010

Thin-film-transistors (TFTs) that can be deposited at low temperature have recently attracted lots of applications such as sensors, solar cell and displays, because of the great flexible electronics and transparent. Transparent and flexible transistors are being required that high mobility and large-area uniformity at low temperature [1]. But, unfortunately most of TFT structures are used to be $SiO_2$ as gate dielectric layer. The $SiO_2$ has disadvantaged that it is required to high driving voltage to achieve the same operating efficiency compared with other high-k materials and its thickness is thicker than high-k materials [2]. To solve this problem, we find lots of high-k materials as $HfO_2$, $ZrO_2$, $SiN_x$, $TiO_2$, $Al_2O_3$. Among the High-k materials, $Al_2O_3$ is one of the outstanding materials due to its properties are high dielectric constant ( ~9 ), relatively low leakage current, wide bandgap ( 8.7 eV ) and good device stability. For the realization of flexible displays, all processes should be performed at very low temperatures, but low temperature $Al_2O_3$ grown by sputtering showed deteriorated electrical performance. Further decrease in growth temperature induces a high density of charge traps in the gate oxide/channel. This study investigated the effect of growth temperatures of ALD grown $Al_2O_3$ layers on the TFT device performance. The ALD deposition showed high conformal and defect-free dielectric layers at low temperature compared with other deposition equipments [2]. After ITO was wet-chemically etched with HCl : $HNO_3$ = 3:1, $Al_2O_3$ layer was deposited by ALD at various growth temperatures or lift-off process. Amorphous InGaZnO channel layers were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering at a working pressure of 3 mTorr and $O_2$/Ar (1/29 sccm). The electrodes were formed with electron-beam evaporated Ti (30 nm) and Au (70 nm) bilayer. The TFT devices were heat-treated in a furnace at $300^{\circ}C$ and nitrogen atmosphere for 1 hour by rapid thermal treatment. The electrical properties of the oxide TFTs were measured using semiconductor parameter analyzer (4145B), and LCR meter.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.543-543
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• 2013

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on oxide semiconductors have been regarded as promising alternatives for conventional amorphous and polycrystalline silicon TFTs. Oxide TFTs have several advantages, such as low temperature processing, transparency and high field-effect mobility. Lots of oxide semiconductors for example ZnO, SnO2, In2O3, InZnO, ZnSnO, and InGaZnO etc. have been researched. Particularly, zinc-tin oxide (ZTO) is suitable for channel layer of oxide TFTs having a high mobility that Sn in ZTO can improve the carrier transport by overlapping orbital. However, some issues related to the ZTO TFT electrical performance still remain to be resolved, such as obtaining good electrical contact between source/drain (S/D) electrodes and active channel layer. In this study, the bottom-gate type ZTO TFTs with staggered structure were prepared. Thin films of ZTO (40 nm thick) were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and performed at room temperature in an Ar atmosphere with an oxygen partial pressure of 10%. After annealing the thin films of ZTO at $400^{\circ}C$ or an hour, Cu, Mo, ITO and Ti electrodes were used for the S/D electrodes. Cu, Mo, ITO and Ti (200 nm thick) were also deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The channel layer and S/D electrodes were defined using a lift-off process which resulted in a fixed width W of 100 ${\mu}m$ and channel length L varied from 10 to 50 ${\mu}m$. The TFT source/drain series resistance, the intrinsic mobility (${\mu}i$), and intrinsic threshold voltage (Vi) were extracted by transmission line method (TLM) using a series of TFTs with different channel lengths. And the performances of ZTO TFTs were measured by using HP 4145B semiconductor analyzer. The results showed that the Cu S/D electrodes had a high intrinsic field effect mobility and a low effective contact resistance compared to other electrodes such as Mo, ITO and Ti.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.18.2-18.2
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• 2010

For the past a few years, we have intensively researched the printable inorganic conductors and ZnO-based amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) for thin-film transistors. For printable conductor materials, we have focused on the aqueous Ag and Cu ink which possess a variety of advantages, comparing with the conventional metal inks based on organic solvent system. The aqueous Ag ink was designed to achieve the long-term dispersion stability using a specific polymer which can act as a dispersant and capping agent, and the aqueous Cu ink was carefully formulated to endow the oxidation stability in air and even aqueous solvent system. The both inks were successfully printed onto either polymer or glass substrate, exhibiting the superior conductivity comparable to that of bulk one. For printable ZnO-based AOSs, we have researched the noble way to resolve the critical problem, a high processing-temperature above $400^{\circ}C$, and recently discovered that Ga doping in ZnO-based AOSs promotes the formation of oxide lattice structures with oxygen vacancies at low annealing-temperatures, which is essential for acceptable thin-film transistor performance. The mobility dependence on annealing temperature and AOS composition was analyzed, and the chemical role of Ga are clarified, as are requirements for solution-processed, low-temperature annealed AOSs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.287-287
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• 2012

최근 투명 산화물 반도체(TOS: Transparent Oxide Semiconductor)중에 비정질 산화물 반도체(amorphous oxide semiconductor)를 이용한 트랜지스터 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 비정질 산화물 반도체는 박막 트렌지스터 소자의 Active Layer으로 사용할 수 있다. 본 연구는 RF magnetron sputtering법으로 유리기판 위에 IGZO박막을 증착하였다. 박막 증착 조건은 초기 압력 $3.0{\times}10^{-6}$ Torr, 증착 압력 20 mTorr, 반응가스 Ar 50 sccm, RF power 30w, 증착 온도는 실온으로 고정하였으며, 공정변수로 증착 시간을 변화시키며 IGZO박막을 증착하였다. IGZO 타겟은 $In_2O_3$, $Ga_2O_3$, ZnO 분말을 각각 1:1:1 mol% 조성비로 혼합하여 소결한 타겟을 사용하였다. XRD 분석결과에 따라서 Bragg's 법칙을 만족하는 피크가 나타나지 않는 비정질 구조임을 확인할 수 있었다. 가시광 영역에서(450~700 nm) 모든 박막은 90% 이상 투과도를 나타내었다. 증착시간이 증가할수록 밴드갭이 감소하는 것을 확인하였다. 증착시간이 5분인 경우 캐리어 농도는 $2.2{\times}10^{19}$ $cm^{-3}$, 이동도는 7.5 $cm^2/V-s$, 비저항은 $3.8{\times}10^{-2}{\Omega}$-cm의 반도체 특성을 나타냈고, 박막 트렌지스터 소자의 Active Layer으로 사용할 수 있다.