Electrical behavior of amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide thin film transistors by embedding Au nanoparticles in the channel layer

•The a-IGZO TFTs with Au NPs exhibited off-current increase and Vth shift.•Au NPs can act as either electron injection or trap site in the a-IGZO channel layer.•Au NPs can form carrier conduction path causing current leakage in the channel layer.•Carrier conduction path is especially affected by distance between adjacent Au NPs.

We reported the effects on the electrical behavior of amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) after introducing various positions and sizes of Au nanoparticles (NPs) in the channel layer. These TFTs showed an off-current increase and threshold voltage (Vth) shift compared to conventional a-IGZO TFTs. The effects of Au NPs are explained to form the carrier conduction path which causes the current leakage in the channel layer, and act as either electron injection sites or trap sites. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the optimized control of size and position of Au NPs in the channel layer is crucial for its application in the electrical stability improvement and Vth control of a-IGZO TFTs.