Room-temperature UV-ozone assisted solution process for zirconium oxide films with high dielectric properties

A facile, low-cost, and room-temperature UV-ozone (UVO) assisted solution process was employed to prepare zirconium oxide (ZrOx) films with high dielectric properties. ZrOx films were deposited by a simple spin-coating of zirconium acetylacetonate (ZrAcAc) precursor in the environment-friendly solvent of ethanol. The smooth and amorphous ZrOx films by UVO exhibit average visible transmittances over 90% and energy bandgap of 5.7 eV. Low leakage current of 6.0 × 10−8 A/cm2 at 3 MV/cm and high dielectric constant of 13 (100 Hz) were achieved for ZrOx dielectrics at the nearly room temperature. Moreover, a fully room-temperature solution-processed oxide thin films transistor (TFT) with UVO assisted ZrOx dielectric films achieved acceptable performances, such as a low operating voltage of 3 V, high carrier mobility of 1.65 cm2 V−1 s−1, and on/off current ratio about 104-105. Our work indicates that simple room-temperature UVO is highly potential for low-temperature, solution-processed and high-performance oxide films and devices.