High performance Zn–Sn–O thin film transistors with Cu source/drain electrode

Abstract Zn–Sn–O (ZTO) thin film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated with a Cu source/drain electrode. Although a reasonably high mobility (μ_FE) of 13.2 cm²/Vs was obtained for the ZTO TFTs, the subthreshold gate swing (SS) and threshold voltage (V_th) of 1.1 V/decade and 9.1 V, respectively, were inferior. However, ZTO TFTs with Ta film inserted as a diffusion barrier, exhibited improved SS and V_th values of 0.48 V/decade and 3.0 V, respectively as well as a high μ_FE value of 18.7 cm²/Vs. The improvement in the Ta‐inserted device was attributed to the suppression of Cu lateral diffusion into the ZTO channel region. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)