Fully solution-induced high performance indium oxide thin film transistors with ZrO_x high-k gate dielectrics

Abstract

Solution based deposition has been recently considered as a viable option for low-cost flexible electronics. In this context, research efforts have been increasingly focused on the development of suitable solution-processed materials for oxide based transistors. In this work, we report a fully solution synthesis route, using 2-methoxyethanol as solvent, for the preparation of In₂O₃ thin films and ZrO _<i>x</i> gate dielectrics, as well as the fabrication of In₂O₃-based TFTs. To verify the possible applications of ZrO _<i>x</i> thin films as the gate dielectric in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics, fully solution-induced In₂O₃ TFTs based on ZrO₂ dielectrics have been integrated and investigated. The devices, with an optimized annealing temperature of 300 °C, have demonstrated high electrical performance and operational stability at a low voltage of 2 V, including a high <i>μ</i> _sat of 4.42 cm² V^-1 s^-1, low threshold voltage of 0.31 V, threshold voltage shift of 0.15 V under positive bias stress for 7200 s, and large <i>I</i> _on/<i>I</i> _off of 7.5 × 10⁷, respectively. The as-fabricated In₂O₃/ZrO _<i>x</i> TFTs enable fully solution-derived oxide TFTs for potential application in portable and low-power consumption electronics.