The effect of substrate temperature on Al-doped ZnO characteristics for organic thin film transistor applications

• AZO films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering method.
• The effects of substrate temperature on the properties of AZO films were investigated.
• The performance of OTFTs can be determined by the conductivity of AZO gate electrode.

The influence of substrate temperature on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films fabricated by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was investigated. The AZO films were deposited at various substrate temperatures, and the effect of AZO gate electrode conductivity on organic thin film transistor (OTFT) performance was examined. While an increase in the substrate temperature from 100 °C to 300 °C led to an improvement in crystallinity, substrate temperatures over 300 °C caused degradation of the electrical and surface properties. We fabricated OTFTs using AZO films prepared at various substrate temperatures and obtained good device performance. Thus, the performance of an OTFT can be determined by the conductivity of the AZO gate electrode.

The FESEM surface images of AZO films prepared at the substrate temperature of 300 °C and the output characteristics of OTFT using AZO film prepared at substrate temperature of 300 °C.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide