Flexible aluminum-doped zinc-oxide thin-film transistor fabricated on plastic substrates

Abstract

We have studied processing and characteristics of flexible Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide thin-film transistors (AZO TFTs) fabricated on plastic substrates using radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. To improve the performance of flexible AZO TFT, we studied effects of device structures on characteristics of the aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin film transistors. The electrical properties of top-gate type and bottom-gate type AZO TFTs were investigated, respectively. The top-gate type AZO TFTs shows a threshold voltage of 1.4 V, a I on /I off current ratio of 1.0×10 7 , a field effect mobility of 28.2 cm 2 / V•s, a subthreshold swing of 0.19 V/decade. And the bottom-gate type AZO TFTs shows a threshold voltage of 1.7 V, a I on /I off ratio of 1.0×10 7 , a field effect mobility of 209 cm 2 / V•s, a subthreshold swing of 0.16 V/decade, and the off current of less than 10 -11 A at room temperature. Both TFTs show low threshold voltage, high I on /I off ratio and high field effect mobility. By comparison, the bottom-gate type AZO TFTs shows better characteristics. The flexible AZO-TFT is a very promising low-cost optoelectronic device for the next generation of invisible and flexible electronics due to flexible, transparency, high mobility, and low-temperature processing.

Improving Performance of Tin-Doped-Zinc-Oxide Thin-Film Transistors by Optimizing Channel Structure

“…2,3,[11][12][13] Among ZnO-based multicomponent oxide TFTs, In-Ga-Zn-O, Al-Zn-O, In-Zn-O, Zn-In-Sn-O TFTs had been proved to be attractive alternatives to conventional silicon-based TFTs in AMOLED due to their high mobility, low threshold voltage, fully transparency, and large-area applications. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] While most of these work required a high processing or annealing temperature (above 300 ℃). These thermal processes increase the manufacturing cost and limits their application in flexible display where low processing temperature (<100 ℃) is desirable.…”