The effects of active layer thickness and annealing conditions on the electrical performance of ZnON thin-film transistors

The experimental results indicate that optimum field effect mobility and switching ability are achieved at an annealing temperature of 300 °C with a 20 nm-thick ZnON active layer. XPS analyses on the nitrogen 1s peak of ZnON films suggest that the portion of stoichiometric Zn3N2 is highest at this annealing temperature, which is anticipated to provide high conductivity paths to the free electrons. The devices were next subjected to negative bias illumination stress (NBIS), however the amount of ZnON TFT degradation does not exhibit any mobility dependence, unlike what is observed in devices incorporating conventional oxide semiconductors such as In-Ga-Zn-O (IGZO).