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Metallization strategies for In2O3-based amorphous oxide semiconductor materials

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Abstract

Amorphous oxide semiconductors based on indium oxide [e.g., In–Zn–O (IZO) and In–Ga–Zn–O (IGZO)] are of interest for use in thin-film transistor (TFT) applications. We report that the stability of amorphous In–Zn–O (a-IZO) used in TFT applications depends, in part, on the metallization materials used to form the source and drain contacts. A thermodynamics-based approach to the selection of IZO metallization materials is presented along with a study of the microstructural stability of a-IZO metallized with Mo and Ti. In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy studies are presented that show that the crystallization temperature of a-IZO metallized with Ti is sharply reduced (to ≅200 °C), while a-IZO metallized with Mo remains amorphous. The effects of the unstable Ti/IZO interface are shown to include: vacancy injection, enhanced amorphous-to-crystal transformation kinetics, interfacial oxide formation, and the lateral growth on adjacent IZO of rutile TiO2 needles.

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Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Award No. DMR-0804915.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA

    Sunghwan Lee & David C. Paine

  2. Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, 02881, USA

    Keunhan Park

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  1. Sunghwan Lee
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Correspondence to David C. Paine.

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Lee, S., Park, K. & Paine, D.C. Metallization strategies for In2O3-based amorphous oxide semiconductor materials. Journal of Materials Research 27, 2299–2308 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.141

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