High Performance Amorphous IGZO Thin-Film Transistor Based on Alumina Ceramic

Abstract

Ceramic materials are high-temperature resistant materials with promising prospects. In some applications, semiconductor devices need to be integrated with a ceramic substrate. Herein, we report on the stable operation of an Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> ceramic-based amorphous-Indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thinfilm transistor (TFT) at room temperature up to 523 K. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the a-IGZO film. A mixed solution was printed on the surface of an insulating layer of alumina. After the combustion reaction, the metal electrode was printed on the surface of a-IGZO to obtain a TFT. The ION/IOFF ratio was 6.04 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sup> at 293 K, and it was maintained at 1.44 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sup> at 523 K. It was demonstrated that the parameters of a-IGZO TFTs such as the subthreshold swing (SS), <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">g</sub> m and μ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">sat</sub> changed at different temperatures. As such, they can be used as building blocks for integrated circuits that can operate at high temperatures. The fabrication of TFT-based inverters, NAND and NOR gate circuits facilitate the exploration of the possibility of more complex digital circuits that operate at high temperatures, based on hybrid circuit design.