Critical Effect of Oxygen Pressure in Pulsed Laser Deposition for Room Temperature and High Performance Amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O Thin Film Transistors

The aspects of low processing temperature and easy running in oxygen atmosphere contribute to the potential of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in developing a-IGZO TFTs for flexible applications. However, the realization of low-temperature and high-performance devices with determined strategies requires further exploration. In this work, the effect of oxygen pressure and post-annealing processes and their mechanisms on the performance evolution of a-IGZO TFTs by PLD were systematically studied. A room-temperature a-IGZO TFT with no hysteresis and excellent performances, including a μ of 17.19 cm(2)/V·s, an I(on)/I(off) of 1.7 × 10(6), and a SS of 403.23 mV/decade, was prepared at the oxygen pressure of 0.5 Pa. Moreover, an O(2) annealing atmosphere was confirmed effective for high-quality a-IGZO films deposited at high oxygen pressure (10 Pa), which demonstrates the critical effect of oxygen vacancies, rather than weak bonds, on the device’s performance.