Environment-dependent thermal instability of sol-gel derived amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin film transistors

Abstract

The environment-dependent electrical performances as a function of temperature for sol-gel derived amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors are investigated in this letter. In the ambients without oxygen, thermal activation dominates and enhances device performance. In oxygen-containing environments, mobility and drain current degrades and the threshold slightly increase as temperature increases. We develop a porous model for a-IGZO film relating to the drain current and mobility lowering due to film porosity and oxygen adsorption/penetration. It also relates to the threshold voltage recovery at high temperature owing to the varying form of adsorbed oxygen and the combination of oxygen and vacancies.