Performance enhancement of fully transparent tin-doped zinc oxide thin-film transistors fabricated by sputtering at low temperature

Abstract

Fully transparent tin-doped zinc oxide thin-film transistors (TZO TFTs) were successfully fabricated on glass substrate by radiofrequency sputtering at room temperature. In this reported work, TZO is adopted as the channel layer, SiO2 as the gate insulator and indium tin oxide as gate and source/drain electrodes. The surface morphology and crystallographic structure of the TZO films were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Sn atoms are found to successfully replace Zn sites in the lattice and form stable Sn-O bonds. Sn dopants and adding O2 during the TZO channel deposition can enhance the device performance. The as-fabricated TZO TFT exhibited excellent electrical and optical properties. Hence, TZO can be a promising candidate for the next generation driving active-matrix flat panel displays.