High mobility transparent thin-film transistors with amorphous zinc tin oxide channel layer

TLDR

Zinc tin oxide is a new class of high‑performance amorphous oxide thin‑film transistor channel materials featuring heavy‑metal cations with (n−1)d¹⁰ns⁰ electronic configurations. Transparent thin‑film transistors with an amorphous zinc tin oxide channel layer formed by rf magnetron sputter deposition were demonstrated, achieving field‑effect mobilities of 5–15 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at 300 °C and 20–50 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at 600 °C, turn‑on voltages of 0–15 V and –5–5 V respectively, and drain‑current on‑to‑off ratios exceeding 10⁷.

Abstract

Transparent thin-film transistors (TTFTs) with an amorphous zinc tin oxide channel layer formed via rf magnetron sputter deposition are demonstrated. Field-effect mobilities of 5–15 and 20–50cm2V−1s−1 are obtained for devices post-deposition annealed at 300 and 600°C, respectively. TTFTs processed at 300 and 600°C yield devices with turn-on voltage of 0–15 and −5–5V, respectively. Under both processing conditions, a drain current on-to-off ratio greater than 107 is obtained. Zinc tin oxide is one example of a new class of high performance TTFT channel materials involving amorphous oxides composed of heavy-metal cations with (n−1)d10ns0 (n⩾4) electronic configurations.