Effects of Post-UV/Ozone Treatment on Electrical Characteristics of Solution-Processed Copper Oxide Thin-Film Transistors

To realize oxide semiconductor-based complementary circuits and better transparent display applications, the electrical properties of p-type oxide semiconductors and the performance improvement of p-type oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) are required. In this study, we report the effects of post-UV/ozone (O(3)) treatment on the structural and electrical characteristics of copper oxide (CuO) semiconductor films and the TFT performance. The CuO semiconductor films were fabricated using copper (II) acetate hydrate as a precursor material to solution processing and the UV/O(3) treatment was performed as a post-treatment after the CuO film was fabricated. During the post-UV/O(3) treatment for up to 13 min, the solution-processed CuO films exhibited no meaningful change in the surface morphology. On the other hand, analysis of the Raman and X-ray photoemission spectra of solution-processed CuO films revealed that the post-UV/O(3) treatment induced compressive stress in the film and increased the composition concentration of Cu–O lattice bonding. In the post-UV/O(3)-treated CuO semiconductor layer, the Hall mobility increased significantly to approximately 280 cm(2) V(−1) s(−1), and the conductivity increased to approximately 4.57 × 10(−2) Ω(−1) cm(−1). Post-UV/O(3)-treated CuO TFTs also showed improved electrical properties compared to those of untreated CuO TFTs. The field-effect mobility of the post-UV/O(3)-treated CuO TFT increased to approximately 6.61 × 10(−3) cm(−2) V(−1) s(−1), and the on-off current ratio increased to approximately 3.51 × 10(3). These improvements in the electrical characteristics of CuO films and CuO TFTs can be understood through the suppression of weak bonding and structural defects between Cu and O bonds after post-UV/O(3) treatment. The result demonstrates that the post-UV/O(3) treatment can be a viable method to improve the performance of p-type oxide TFTs.