Mechanism analysis of irradiation location dependent leakage current for zinc oxide thin-film transistors

Abstract

For large-area electronic applications, the mechanism of the leakage current in oxide-semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) has become a critical issue. In this work, the impact of the irradiation location on the photo-leakage current of zinc oxide (ZnO) TFTs is investigated. The photo-leakage current of the ZnO TFTs is not only dependent on the light irradiation but it is also dependent on the parasitic capacitance between the drain electrode and the floating gate metal. The photo-leakage current of the source-half irradiation TFT is larger than that of the drain-half irradiation TFT. To explain this phenomenon, the profile of the electric potential and the electron concentration is analyzed by two-dimensional device simulation. It is found that the floating gate metal plays the dominant role in the photo-leakage current. This research provides insight into TFT structure optimization and high-performance TFT process development.