Analysis of Electrical Characteristics and Reliability Change of Zinc-Tin-Oxide Thin-Film Transistors by Photo-Thermal Treatment

This study investigates the influence of a photo-thermal treatment on the electrical characteristics and bias-induced instability of amorphous Zn-Sn-O thin film transistors. Sequences of measurements made in both vacuum and oxygen ambient reveal the most pronounced threshold voltage (VT) shift, i.e., the highest sensitivity of oxygen, occurs in a device with photo-thermal-treatment. After gate-bias stress in vacuum, the treated device shows less VT shift than that untreated, which can be attributed to residual adsorbed gas molecules on the backchannel. Thus, the proposed photo-thermal-treatment should be conducted before depositing a passivation layer to increase the reliability of devices after stress.