• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.209-216
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• 2015

Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) is a material that is widely used for transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs). Indium (In), chief element of the ITO, is expected to be depleted in the near future owing to its high cost and limited reserves. To overcome the issue, ITO has to be retained by recycling redundant ITO targets after manufacturing processes. In this article, we proposed an efficient recycling way of the redundant ITO targets with investigation of the current recycling tendencies in domestic and foreign countries. As a result, it was revealed that only In is recycled from the redundant targets in domestic and Japan. As well, fabrication of TCEs is being researched with ITO nanoparticles solutions. However, since the TCEs fabricated with ITO target is superior to those with other materials, it is thought that establishment of regeneration technology of ITO itself is demanded for an efficient recycling and fabrication of ITO target.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.334-334
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• 2012

Transparent oxide semiconductors have recently attracted much attention as channel layer materials due to advantageous electrical and optical characteristics such as high mobility, high stability, and good transparency. In addition, transparent oxide semiconductor can be fabricated at low temperature with a low production cost and it permits highly uniform devices such as large area displays. A variety of thin film transistors (TFTs) have been studied including ZnO, InZnO, and InGaZnO as the channel layer. Recently, there are many studies for substitution of Ga in InGaZnO TFTs due to their problem, such as stability of devices. In this work, new quaternary compound materials, tantalum-indium-tin oxide (TaInSnO) thin films were fabricated by using co-sputtering and used for the active channel layer in thin film transistors (TFTs). We deposited TaInSnO films in a mixed gas (O2+Ar) atmosphere by co-sputtering from Ta and ITO targets, respectively. The electric characteristics of TaInSnO TFTs and thin films were investigated according to the RF power applied to the $Ta_2O_5$ target. The addition of Ta elements could suppress the formation of oxygen vacancies because of the stronger oxidation tendency of Ta relative to that of In or Sn. Therefore the free carrier density decreased with increasing RF power of $Ta_2O_5$ in TaInSnO thin film. The optimized characteristics of TaInSnO TFT showed an on/off current ratio of $1.4{\times}108$, a threshold voltage of 2.91 V, a field-effect mobility of 2.37 cm2/Vs, and a subthreshold swing of 0.48 V/dec.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.242-242
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• 2012

Transparent oxide semiconductors are increasingly becoming one of good candidates for high efficient channel materials of thin film transistors (TFTs) in large-area display industries. Compare to the conventional hydrogenated amorphous silicon channel layers, solution processed ZnO-TFTs can be simply fabricated at low temperature by just using a spin coating method without vacuum deposition, thus providing low manufacturing cost. Furthermore, solution based oxide TFT exhibits excellent transparency and enables to apply flexible devices. For this reason, this process has been attracting much attention as one fabrication method for oxide channel layer in thin-film transistors (TFTs). But, poor electrical characteristic of these solution based oxide materials still remains one of issuable problems due to oxygen vacancy formed by breaking weak chemical bonds during fabrication. These electrical properties are expected due to the generation of a large number of conducting carriers, resulting in huge electron scattering effect. Therefore, we study a novel technique to effectively improve the electron mobility by applying environmental annealing treatments with various gases to the solution based Li-doped ZnO TFTs. This technique was systematically designed to vary a different lithium ratio in order to confirm the electrical tendency of Li-doped ZnO TFTs. The observations of Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy were performed to investigate structural properties and elemental composition of our samples. In addition, I-V characteristics were carried out by using Keithley 4,200-Semiconductor Characterization System (4,200-SCS) with 4-probe system.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.287-287
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• 2010

We report a new direct patterning method, called liquid bridge-mediated nanotransfer molding (LB-nTM), for the formation of two- or three-dimensional structures with feature sizes between tens of nanometers and tens of micron over large areas. LB-nTM is based on the direct transfer of various materials from a mold to a substrate via a liquid bridge between them. This procedure can be adopted for automated direct printing machines that generate patterns of functional materials with a wide range of feature sizes on diverse substrates. Arrays of TIPS-PEN TFTs were fabricated on 4" polyethersulfone (PES) substrates by LB-nTM using PDMS molds. An inverted staggered structure was employed in the TFT device fabrication. A 150 nm-thick indium-tin oxide (ITO) gate electrode and a 200 nm-thick SiO2dielectric layer were formed on a PES substrate by sputter deposition. An array of TIPS-PEN patterns (thickness: 60 nm) as active channel layers was fabricated on the substrate by LB-nTM. The nominal channel length of the TIPS-PEN TFT was 10 mm, while the channel width was 135 mm. Finally, the source and drain electrodes of 200 nm-thick Ag were defined on the substrate by LB-nTM. The TIPS-PEN TFTs can endure strenuous bending and are also transparent in the visible range, and therefore potentially useful for flexible and invisible electronics.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.600-604
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• 2011

Solution processed IGO thin films were prepared using a general chemical solution route by spin coating. The effect of the annealing temperature of IGO thin films based on the ratio of 2:1 of indium to gallium on crystallization was investigated with varying annealing temperature from $300^{\circ}C$ to $600^{\circ}C$. The electronic device characteristic of IGO thin film was investigated. The solution-processed IGO TFTs annealed at 300 and $600^{\circ}C$ in air for 1 h exhibited good electronic performances with field effect mobilities as high as 0.34 and 3.83 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$, respectively. The on/off ratio of the IGO TFT in this work was $10^5$ with 98% transmittance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.106-106
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• 2011

Recently, zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have attracted great attention as a promising candidate for various electronic applications such as transparent electrodes, thin film transistors, and optoelectronic devices. ZnO thin films have a wide band gap energy of 3.37 eV and transparency in visible region. Moreover, ZnO thin films can be deposited in a poly-crystalline form even at room temperature, extending the choice of substrates including even plastics. Therefore, it is possible to realize thin film transistors by using ZnO thin films as the active channel layer. In this work, we investigated influence of oxygen partial pressure on ZnO thin films and fabricated ZnO-based thin film transistors. ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates by using a pulsed laser deposition technique in various oxygen partial pressures from 20 to 100 mTorr at room temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission line method (TLM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy were employed to study the structural, electrical, and optical properties of the ZnO thin films. As a result, 80 mTorr was optimal condition for active layer of thin film transistors, since the active layer of thin film transistors needs high resistivity to achieve low off-current and high on-off ratio. The fabricated ZnO-based thin film transistors operated in the enhancement mode with high field effect mobility and low threshold voltage.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.543-544
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• 2006

Pentacene thin film transistors fabricated without photolithographic patterning were fabricated on the plastic substrates. Both the organic/inorganic thin films and metallic electrode were patterned by shifting the position of the shadow mask which accompanies the substrate throughout the deposition process. By using an optically transparent zirconium oxide ($ZrO_2$) as a gate insulator and octadecyltrimethoxysilane (OTMS) as an organic molecule for self-assembled monolayer (SAM) to increase the adhesion between the plastic substrate and gate insulator and the mobility with surface treatment, high-performance transistor with field effect mobility $.66\;cm^2$/V s and $I_{on}/I_{off}$>$10^5$ was formed on the plastic substrate. This technique will be applicable to all structure deposited at low temperature and suitable for an easy process for flexible display.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.166-166
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• 2010

Recently, TFTs based on amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) such as ZnO, InZnO, ZnSnO, GaZnO, TiOx, InGaZnO(IGZO), SnGaZnO, etc. have been attracting a grate deal of attention as potential alternatives to existing TFT technology to meet emerging technological demands where Si-based or organic electronics cannot provide a solution. Since, in 2003, Masuda et al. and Nomura et al. have reported on transparent TFTs using ZnO and IGZO as active layers, respectively, much efforts have been devoted to develop oxide TFTs using aforementioned amorphous oxide semiconductors as their active layers. In this thesis, I report on the performance of thin-film transistors using amorphous indium gallium zinc oxides for an active channel layer at room temperature. $SiO_2$ was employed as the gate dielectric oxide. The amorphous indium gallium zinc oxides were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. The carrier concentration of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide was controlled by oxygen pressure in the sputtering ambient. Devices are realized that display a threshold voltage of 1.5V and an on/off ration of > $10^9$ operated as an n-type enhancement mode with saturation mobility with $9.06\;cm^2/V{\cdot}s$. The devices show optical transmittance above 80% in the visible range. In conclusion, the fabrication and characterization of thin-film transistors using amorphous indium gallium zinc oxides for an active channel layer were reported. The operation of the devices was an n-type enhancement mode with good saturation characteristics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.208.1-208.1
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• 2015

최근, 차세대 투명 디스플레이 구동소자로서 산화물 반도체를 이용한 Transparent Amorphous Oxide Semiconductor (TAOS) 기술이 큰 주목을 받고 있다. 산화물 반도체는 기존의 a-Si에 비해 우수한 전기적인 특성과 낮은 구동전압 그리고 넓은 밴드 갭으로 인한 투명성의 장점들이 있다. 그리고 낮은 공정 온도에서도 제작이 가능하기 때문에 유리나 플라스틱과 같은 다양한 기판에서도 박막 증착이 가능하다. 하지만 기존의 furnace를 이용한 열처리 방식은 낮은 온도에서 우수한 전기적인 특성을 내기 어려우며, 공정 시간이 길어지는 단점들이 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 산화물 반도체중 In-Ga-Zn-O (IGZO)와 In-Sn-O(ITO)를 각각 채널 층과 게이트 전극으로 이용하였다. 또한 마이크로웨이브 열처리 기술을 이용하여 기존의 열처리 방식에 비해 에너지 전달 효율이 높고 짧은 시간동안 저온 공정이 가능하며 우수한 전기적인 특성을 가지는 투명 박막 트랜지스터를 구현 하였다. 본 실험은 glass 기판위에서 진행되었으며, RF sputter를 이용하여 ITO를 150 nm 증착한 후, photo-lithography 공정을 통하여 하부 게이트 전극을 형성하였다. 이후에 RF sputter를 이용하여 SiO2 와 IGZO 를 각각 300, 50 nm 증착하였고, patterning 과정을 통하여 채널 영역을 형성하였다. 또한 소자의 전기적인 특성 향상을 위해 마이크로웨이브 열처리를 1000 Watt로 2 분간 진행 하였고, 비교를 위하여 기존 방식인 furnace 를 이용하여 N2 분위기에서 $400^{\circ}C$로 30분간 진행한 소자도 병행하였다. 그 결과 마이크로웨이브를 통해 열처리한 소자는 공정 온도가 $100^{\circ}C$ 이하로 낮기 때문에 glass 기판에 영향을 주지 않고 기존 furnace 열처리 한 소자보다 전체적으로 전기적인 특성이 우수한 것을 확인 하였다.