Effects of Source/Drain Electrodes on the Performance of InSnO Thin-Film Transistors

Oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) are of increasing interest in the field of advanced displays. In this work, we explore Al, InSnO (ITO), Ti, and Mo as source/drain electrodes of ITO TFTs. A comparison study is conducted on the electrical properties of ITO TFTs with the four categories of source/drain electrodes. Interestingly, the ITO TFT with an Al source/drain electrode exhibits better device performance, such as a field-effect mobility (μ(FE)) of 26.45 cm(2)/Vs, a reasonable turn-on voltage (V(ON)) of 2.7 V, and a steep subthreshold swing (SS) of 201.50 mV/decade. The contact properties of ITO TFTs are further analyzed, and the results show that the device with an Al electrode exhibits lower contact resistance than the other devices. However, the devices with the four electrode materials all reveal excellent stability under negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) with |ΔV(TH)| < 1 V. This work paves the way for the practical applications of ITO TFTs in next-generation displays.