• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2018

We examined the characteristics of indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) on polyimide (PI) substrates for next-generation flexible display application. In this study, the ITZO TFT was fabricated and analyzed with a SiOx/SiNx gate insulator deposited using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) below $350^{\circ}C$. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) results revealed that the oxygen vacancies and impurities such as H, OH and $H_2O$ increased at ITZO/gate insulator interface. Our study suggests that the hydrogen related impurities existing in the PI and gate insulator were diffused into the channel during the fabrication process. We demonstrate that these impurities and oxygen vacancies in the ITZO channel/gate insulator may cause degradation of the electrical characteristics and bias stability. Therefore, in order to realize high performance oxide TFTs for flexible displays, it is necessary to develop a buffer layer (e.g., $Al_2O_3$) that can sufficiently prevent the diffusion of impurities into the channel.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.159-159
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• 2008

투명전도체 (transparent conducting oxides: TCOs) 는 일반적으로 $10^3\Omega^{-1}Cm^{-1}$의 전도도, 가시광 영역에서 80%이상의 투명성을 가지는 재료로서, 액정 박막 표시 장치(TFT-LCD), 광기전성 소자, 유기 발광 소자, 에너지 절약 창문, 태양전지(sollar cell) 등 전극으로 사용되고 있다. 최근에는 TCO의 전도도특성을 조절하여 반도성특성을 가진 투명 산화물 반도체(transparent oxide semiconductor: TOS) 을 이용한 박막 트랜지스터 연구가 활발히 진행 중이다. 기존의 실리콘을 기반으로 하는 박막 트랜지스터의 낮은 이동도, 불투명성의 특성을 가지고 있지만, 산화물 박막트랜지스터는 높은 이동도를 발현 할 수 있을 뿐만 아니라, 넓은 밴드갭 에너지를 갖는 산화물을 이용하므로 투명한 특성도 발현 할 수 있어 차세대 디스플레이의 구동소자로서 응용연구가 되고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 박막트랜지스터 channel layer로서의 Indium-Tin-Zinc oxide 적용특성을 조사하였다. Indium, Tin, Zinc 의 혼합비율을 다양하게 조절하여 타겟을 제작하였다. 이를 RF magnetron sputtering 를 이용하여 박막으로 성장시켰으며, 기판으로는 glass 기판을 사용하였다. 박막 성장시 아르곤과 산소의 비율을 다양하게 조절하였다. 성장시킨 박막은 Hall effect, Transmittance, Work function, XRD등을 이용하여 전기적, 광학적, 구조특성을 평가하였다. Indium-Tin-Zinc Oxide(ITZO) 을 channel layer로 사용하여 Thin-film transistor 을 제작하여, TFT의 I-V 및 stability특성을 평가하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.215.2-215.2
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• 2015

We fabricated dual active layer (DAL) thin film transistors (TFTs) with indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) and indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin film layers using solution process. The ITZO and IGZO layer were used as the front and back channel, respectively. In order to investigate the bias stress stability of ITZO SAL (single active layer) and ITZO/IGZO DAL TFT, a gate bias stress of 10 V was applied for 1500 s under the dark condition. The SAL TFT composed of ITZO layer shows a poor positive bias stability of ${\delta}VTH$ of 13.7 V, whereas ${\delta}VTH$ of ITZO/IGZO DAL TFT was very small as 2.6 V. In order to find out the evidence of improved bias stress stability, we calculated the total trap density NT near the channel/gate insulator interface. The calculated NT of DAL and SAL TFT were $4.59{\times}10^{11}$ and $2.03{\times}10^{11}cm^{-2}$, respectively. The reason for improved bias stress stability is due to the reduction of defect sites such as pin-hole and pores in the active layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.324-324
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• 2012

투명전도체(Transparent Conducting Oxides: TCOs)는 일반적으로 면저항이 $103{\Omega}/sq$ 이하로 전기가 잘 통하며, 가시광선영역인 380~780 nm에서의 투과율이 80% 이상이고, 3.2eV 이상의 밴드갭을 가지는 재료로써, 전기전도도와 가시광선영역에서 투과성이 높아 전기적, 광학적 재료로 관심을 받아 다년간 연구대상이 되어오고 있다. 현재 가장 널리 사용되고 있는 투명전도체(Transparent Conducting Oxides: TCOs) 소재로는 Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)가 가장 각광받고 있지만, Indium의 가격상승과 박막의 열처리를 통해 저항이 증가하는 단점을 가지고 있어 이를 대체 할 새로운 소재 개발이 필요한 상황이다. 그러므로 투명전도체 소재 개발에 있어서 가장 중요한 연구과제는 Indium Tin Oxide(ITO)의 단점을 개선시키고 안정된 고농도의 In-Zn-Sn-O(ITZO) 박막을 성장시키는 것이다. 본 연구에서는 RF스퍼터링법에 의하여 Si wafer에 In-Zn-Sn-O(IZTO)를 $350{\AA}$ 만큼 증착시키고, 1시간 동안 $300^{\circ}C$, $350^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$로 각각 열처리 하였다. 박막의 전자적, 광학적 특성은 XPS(X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), REELS(Reflection Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy)를 이용하여 연구하였다. XPS측정결과, ITZO박막은 In-O, Sn-O and Zn-O의 결합을 가지고 있고, 박막의 열처리를 통해 $400^{\circ}C$에서 Zn2p의 피크가 가장 크게 나타나는 반면 In3d와 Sn3d는 열처리를 했을 때가 Room Temperature에서 보다 피크가 작아지는 것을 확인하였다. 이는 $400^{\circ}C$에서 Zn가 표면에 편석됨을 나타낸다. 그리고 REELS를 이용해 Ep=1500 eV에서의 밴드갭을 얻어보면, 밴드갭은 $3.25{\pm}0.05eV$로 온도에 크게 변화하지 않았다. 또한 QUEELS -Simulation에 의한 광학적 특성 분석 결과, 가시광선영역인 380nm~780nm에서의 투과율이 83%이상으로 투명전자소자로의 응용이 가능하다는 것을 보여주었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2008.08a
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• pp.108-108
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• 2008

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.239-243
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• 2014

The electrical and optical properties of amorphous In-Tin-Zinc-Oxide(ITZO) deposited at room temperature using rf-magnetron sputtering were investigated. The amorphous ITZO thin films were obtained at the composition of In:Sn:Zn = 6:2:2, 4:3:3, and 2:4:4, but the ITZO (8:1:1) showed a crystalline phase of bixbyite structure of In2O3. The resistivity of ITZO could be controlled by oxygen pressure in the sputtering ambient. The resistivity of post-annealed ITZO thin films exhibited the dependence on the amount of Indium. Optical energy band gap and transmittance increased as the amount of indium in ITZO increased. For the device application with ITZO, the bottom-gated thin-film transistor using ITZO as a active channel layer was fabricated. It showed a threshold voltage of 1.42V and an on/off ratio of $5.63{\times}10^7$ operated with saturation field-effect mobility of $14.2cm^2/V{\cdot}s$.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.292-296
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• 2015

Indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) thin films were deposited on glass and quartz substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. The substrate temperature varied from $100^{\circ}C$ to $400^{\circ}C$. The structural and optical properties of thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV-Visible transmission spectra. It has been found from X-ray diffraction patterns that increasing the substrate temperature, the amorphous structure changes into polycrystalline structure. The FESEM results showed that all ITZO thin films have a smooth surface. The average optical transmittance (400 - 800 nm) was 82% and 80% at all films deposited at $200^{\circ}C$. The band gap energy ranges 3.41 to 3.57eV and 2.81 to 3.44eV with a maximum value at $200^{\circ}C$ all substrates temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.170-170
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• 2010

Thin-film transistors (TFT) have become the key components of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Most conventional thin-film field-effect transistors in display applications use an amorphous or polycrystal Si:H layer as the channel. This silicon layers are opaque in the visible range and severely restrict the amount of light detected by the observer due to its bandgap energy smaller than the visible light. Therefore, Si:H TFT devices reduce the efficiency of light transmittance and brightness. One method to increase the efficiency is to use the transparent oxides for the channel, electrode, and gate insulator. The development of transparent oxides for the components of thin-film field-effect transistors and the room-temperature fabrication with low voltage operations of the devices can offer the flexibility in designing the devices and contribute to the progress of next generation display technologies based on transparent displays and flexible displays. In this thesis, I report on the dc performance of transparent thin-film transistors using amorphous indium tin zinc oxides for an active layer. $SiO_2$ was employed as the gate dielectric oxide. The amorphous indium tin zinc oxides were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. The carrier concentration of amorphous indium tin zinc oxides was controlled by oxygen pressure in the sputtering ambient. Devices are realized that display a threshold voltage of 4.17V and an on/off ration of ${\sim}10^9$ operated as an n-type enhancement mode with saturation mobility with $15.8\;cm^2/Vs$. In conclusion, the fabrication and characterization of thin-film transistors using amorphous indium tin zinc oxides for an active layer were reported. The devices were fabricated at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering. The operation of the devices was an n-type enhancement mode with good saturation characteristics.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.1873-1878
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• 2013

ITZO ($In_2O_3$ : $SnO_2$ : ZnO = 90wt.% : 5wt.% : 5wt.%) thin films were fabricated on glass substrates (Eagle 2000) at room temperature with various working pressures (1~7 mTorr) by RF magnetron sputtering. The influence of the working pressure on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of the ITZO thin films were investigated. The XRD and FESEM results showed that all ITZO thin films are amorphous structures with very smooth surfaces regardless of the working pressure. Amorphous ITZO thin films deposited at 3 mTorr showed the best properties, such as a low resistivity, high transmittance, and figure of merit of $3.08{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, 81 %, and $10.52{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}^{-1}$, respectively.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.198-203
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• 2016

We investigate the effects of magnesium (Mg) suppressor layer on the electrical performances and stabilities of amorphous indium-zinc-tin-oxide (a-ITZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). Compared to the ITZO TFT without a Mg suppressor layer, the ITZO:Mg TFT exhibits slightly smaller field-effect mobility and much reduced subthreshold slope. The ITZO:Mg TFT shows improved electrical stabilities compared to the ITZO TFT under both positive-bias and negative-bias-illumination stresses. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy O1s spectra with fitted curves for ITZO and ITZO:Mg films, we observe that Mg doping contributes to an enhancement of the oxygen bond without oxygen vacancy and a reduction of the oxygen bonds with oxygen vacancies. This result shows that the Mg can be an effective suppressor in a-ITZO TFTs.