Effects of annealing conditions on the dielectric properties of solution-processed Al2O3 layers for indium-zinc-tin-oxide thin-film transistors.

In this paper, the effects of annealing conditions on the dielectric properties of solution-processed aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layers for indium-zinc-tin-oxide (IZTO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) have been investigated. The dielectric properties of Al2O3 layers such as leakage current density and dielectric strength were largely affected by their annealing conditions. In particular, oxygen partial pressure in rapid thermal annealing, and the temperature profile of hot plate annealing had profound effects on the dielectric properties. From a refractive index analysis, the enhanced dielectric properties of Al2O3 gate dielectrics can be attributed to higher film density depending on the annealing conditions. With the low-temperature-annealed Al2O3 gate dielectric at 350 degrees C, solution-processed IZTO TFTs with a field-effect mobility of approximately 2.2 cm2/Vs were successfully fabricated.