Water-Processed Ultrathin Crystalline Indium–Boron–Oxide Channel for High-Performance Thin-Film Transistor Applications
Wangying Xu,
Tao Peng,
Yujia Li,
Fang Xu,
Yu Zhang,
Chun Zhao,
Ming Fang,
Shun Han,
Deliang Zhu,
Peijiang Cao,
Wenjun Liu,
Youming Lu
Affiliations
Wangying Xu
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Tao Peng
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Yujia Li
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Fang Xu
Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China
Yu Zhang
Department of electronic and Communication Engineering, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen 518055, China
Chun Zhao
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou 215123, China
Ming Fang
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Shun Han
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Deliang Zhu
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Peijiang Cao
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Wenjun Liu
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Youming Lu
Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518000, China
Thin-film transistors (TFTs) made of solution-processable transparent metal oxide semiconductors show great potential for use in emerging large-scale optoelectronics. However, current solution-processed metal oxide TFTs still suffer from relatively poor device performance, hindering their further advancement. In this work, we create a novel ultrathin crystalline indium–boron–oxide (In-B-O) channel layer for high-performance TFTs. We show that high-quality ultrathin (~10 nm) crystalline In-B-O with an atomically smooth nature (RMS: ~0.15 nm) could be grown from an aqueous solution via facile one-step spin-coating. The impacts of B doping on the physical, chemical and electrical properties of the In2O3 film are systematically investigated. The results show that B has large metal–oxide bond dissociation energy and high Lewis acid strength, which can suppress oxygen vacancy-/hydroxyl-related defects and alleviate dopant-induced carrier scattering, resulting in electrical performance improvement. The optimized In-B-O (10% B) TFTs based on SiO2/Si substrate demonstrate a mobility of ~8 cm2/(V s), an on/off current ratio of ~106 and a subthreshold swing of 0.86 V/dec. Furthermore, by introducing the water-processed high-K ZrO2 dielectric, the fully aqueous solution-grown In-B-O/ZrO2 TFTs exhibit excellent device performance, with a mobility of ~11 cm2/(V s), an on/off current of ~105, a subthreshold swing of 0.19 V/dec, a low operating voltage of 5 V and superior bias stress stability. Our research opens up new avenues for low-cost, large-area green oxide electronic devices with superior performance.
