Fabrication techniques and process integration considerations for amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistors (TFTs) constitute the central theme of this dissertation. Within this theme three primary areas of focus are pursued. The first focus involves formulating a general framework for assessing passivation. Avoiding formation of an undesirable backside accumulation layer in an AOS bottom-gate TFT is accomplished by (i) choosing a passivation layer in which the charge neutrality level is aligned with (ideal case) or higher in energy than that of the semiconductor channel layer charge neutrality level, and (ii) depositing the passivation layer in such a manner that a negligible density of oxygen vacancies are present at the channel-passivation layer interface. Two AOS TFT passivation schemes are explored. Sputter-deposited zinc tin silicon oxide (ZTSO) appears promising for suppressing the effects of negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) with respect to ZTO and IGZO TFTs. Solution-deposited silicon dioxide is used as a barrier layer to subsequent PECVD silicon dioxide deposition, yielding ZTO TFT transfer curves showing that the dual-layer passivation process does not significantly alter ZTO TFT electrical characteristics. The second focus involves creating an adaptable back-end process compatible with flexible substrates. A detailed list of possible via formation techniques is presented with particular focus on non-traditional and adaptable techniques. Two of the discussed methods, "hydrophobic surface treatment" and "printed local insulator," are demonstrated and proven effective. The third focus is printing AOS TFT channel layers in order to create an adaptable and additive front-end integrated circuit fabrication scheme. Printed zinc indium aluminum oxide (ZIAO) and indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) channel layers are demonstrated using a SonoPlot piezoelectric printing system. Finally, challenges associated with printing electronic materials are discussed. Organic-based solutions are easier to print due to their ability to "stick" to the substrate and form well-defined patterns, but have poor electrical characteristics due to the weakness of organic bonds. Inorganic aqueous-based solutions demonstrate good electrical performance when deposited by spin coating, but are difficult to print because precise control of a substrate's hydrophillic/hydrophobic nature is required. However, precise control is difficult to achieve, since aqueous-based solutions either spread out or ball up on the substrate surface. Thickness control of any printed solution is always problematic due to surface wetting and the elliptical thickness profile of a dispensed solution. / Graduation date: 2013

Recently, active matrix flat-panel displays are widely used in consumer electronic products. With increasing popularity of flat-panel displays, market competition becomes more intense and demands for high performance flat-panel displays are increasing. Low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) with higher mobility, as well as drive current can integrate electric circuit, such as controllers and memory on glass substrate of display to achieve the purpose of system on panel (SOP). Thus, flat-panel displays can be more compact, while reducing reliability issues and lowering production costs. In this dissertation, we studied the nonvolatile memory for system on panel applications and reducing cost of memory by increasing the memory density or reducing the processing steps. Therefore, we proposed several modes of operation in nonvolatile memory. First, we use channel hot-electron (CHE) to inject electrons into the nitride layer that¡¦s above source or drain sides of SONOS thin film transistor (TFT). Thus, we can increase the memory density by storing two-bit state in a memory cell. In this study, the two-bit memory effect is clearly observed for devices with a shorter gate length after CHE programming; however, the two-bit memory effect is absent in devices with a longer gate length. The gate-length-dependent two-bit memory effect is related to the location of injected electrons in the nitride layer. When electrons are injected into the nitride layer above the channel, they can create an additional energy barrier in the channel thus increasing the threshold voltage of the device to perform the programming operations. However, if electrons are injected into the depletion region at the P-N junction between the drain and the channel, the energy barrier induced by electrons is not significant when exchanging the source and drain electrodes to measure the memory status, and the program effect is not as significant. When the channel length is shorten, the built-in potential between the source and the channel can be decreased, the energy barrier caused by programmed electrons can affect electrons in the channel and increase the threshold voltage. Therefore, the two-bit memory effect can be seen in devices with the shorter gate length after CHE programming. Secondly, we stored charges in the body of the thin film transistor to make the conventional thin-film transistors become a non-volatile memory. This method does not need a floating gate or a tunneling oxide in the memory cell; therefore the memory cost can be reduced. In this study, we used trap-assisted band-to-band thermionic field emission enhanced by self-heating in TFT to produce electron-hole pairs. The hole will be separated by a vertical field under the gate and be injected into the body of TFT to complete the programming operation. The erasing operation is performed by applying a lateral electric field between the source/drain to remove holes in the body of TFT. Thirdly, we proposed an edge-FN tunneling method to allow SONOS TFT possess not only a pixel switch but also a two-bit nonvolatile memory function in a display panel, thus causing the memory density to increase. In this study, we used a channel FN tunneling to program the SONOS TFT. Because the electric field in the gate-to-drain overlap region is larger than that in the channel region, it will cause a smoother electron injection into the nitride layer inside of the gate-to-drain overlap region, which also increases the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current. The edge-FN tunneling method is used to erase electrons in the gate-to-drain overlap region, by doing so, the GIDL current has decreased. The memory status at the source/drain side is determined by the corresponding GIDL current of the SONOS TFT. Fourthly, we stored electrons in the nitride layer at source, channel, and drain regions of SONOS TFT to make sure that TFT possess a three-bit memory effect in a unitary cell, which also allows the memory density to increase significantly. In this study, programming and erasing operations in the source/drain region are performed by channel hot-electron injection and edge-FN tunneling method, while that in the channel region are accomplished by channel FN tunneling. The memory status in the source/drain is determined by the corresponding GIDL current, while that in the channel region by threshold voltage of the device The memory density for the device operated by proposed method can be further increased. In addition, if we store a number of N different types of electrons in those three regions mentioned above, there are N3 status can be stored in a memory cell. The memory density can beyond conventional multi-level-cell (MLC) flash memory. Two-bit memory effect per cell in a MLC flash memory can be achieved by storing four quantitative electrons in the floating gate of the memory device. If we store four quantitative electrons in the nitride layer at source, channel, and drain regions of SONOS TFT, we can obtain 64 memory states or 6-bit memory effect in a memory cell. Thus, the proposed concept is promising to storage the messages in a memory cell beyond four-bit.

For organic electronic device applications materials are needed which display good charge carrier mobility, good processability, and stability towards oxygen and moisture. Alkynylated N-Heteroacenes fulfill many of these requirements. Substitution with alkyne groups as well as the introduction of the pyrazine subunit both inhibits oxidative degradation at sensitive position in the molecules. Additionally the trialkylsilylethynyl group aides in directing the packing motif as well as vastly increases the solubility over unsubstituted analogues. A requisite precursor in the synthesis of alkynylated N-heteroacenes is alkynylated acenothiadiazoles. These thiadiazoles display interesting photophysical properties and can be functionalized to produce a wide range of properties in closely related materials. The acenothiadiazoles themselves have potential applications as an N-type semiconductor. Optical gaps and calculated HOMO-LUMO gaps show that these molecules, when compared to known N-type materials, should be easily injected with electrons. Additionally the crystal packing of these compounds shows favorable π-orbital overlap which should provide excellent charge carrier mobilities.

In this thesis, we investigate spin-dependent transport through ferromagnet-contacted single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), in which charge transport shows the Fabry-Perot (FP) interference effect, the Kondo effect and the Coulomb blockade effect at low temperatures. Hysteric magnetoresistance (MR) is observed in all three transport regimes, which can be controlled by both the external magnetic field and the gate voltage. The MR in the FP interference regime can be well understood by a model considering the intrinsic electronic structure of SWCNTs and the quantum interference effect. In the strongly interacting Kondo regime, the Kondo effect is not suppressed by the presence of nearby ferromagnetism. Several observed MR features including the non-splitted zero-bias Kondo peak and positive MR switching can be explained by the strong Kondo effect and weak ferromagnetism in the leads. In the Coulomb blockade regime, several effects that can be associated with the magneto-Coulomb effect have been observed, and isolated spin accumulation and transport through the SWCNT quantum dot have been realized by a four-probe non-local measurements. We also studied charge transport behavior through organic semiconductor pentacene thin film transistors (OTFTs) in the limit of single- or a few molecular layers of pentacene films. The charge transport in these devices can be well explained by the multiple trapping and release model. The structural disorders induced by the physical and chemical causes, such as grain boundaries, interactions with gate insulator, metal contacts and ambient conditions can be responsible for the localized trap states in the ultrathin layer OTFTs, which are further confirmed by the electric force microscopy (EFM) measurements. / text

Inorganic materials have dominated electronic applications such as photovoltaic cells, thin film transistors (TFTs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). However developments in the field of organic electronics over the past three decades have enabled the use of organic materials in these devices. While significant improvements have been made to improve their electronic properties there are several road blocks towards commercial application. One of the significant obstacles is the poor charge carrier mobility associated with organic semiconductors processed by well established printing methods. The goal of my research project is to improve the charge carrier mobility of solution cast films of acene semiconductors by partial halogenation and heteroatom substitution. Spin coated films of triisopropylsilylethynylated difluoropentacene exhibited higher hole mobility compared to TIPS pentacene due to contact induced nucleation of pentacene on perfluorobenzenethiol treated gold electrodes. The success of this project allowed me to further investigate the effect of degree of fluorination on the electronic properties of pentacene. A series of trialkylsilylethynylated tetrafluoro and octafluoropentacenes were synthesized and their performances in thin film transistors and solar cells were explored. Solar cells made from these materials using poly(3-hexylthiophene) as donor exhibited poor open circuit voltages (Voc) resulting in low power conversion efficiency (PCE). Better device performances were achieved using pentacenes having single halogen substituent. In order to improve the charge carrier mobility in TFTs soluble trialkylsilylethynylated hexacenes were explored. However these molecules exhibited a greater tendency to photo-dimerize in solution and solid state. Partial halogenation was used as a tool to improve the solution stability of reactive hexacene. The improved solution stability of partially halogenated hexacenes allowed me to successfully extend this approach to heptacene and nonacene. Finally a series of new trialkylsilylethynylated anthradiselenophenes were synthesized to improve molecular ordering in the solid state by increasing non-bonding Se – Se interaction. However single crystal x-ray diffraction studies revealed no such interaction between the acene chromophore resulting in poor device performance.

Nanolaminate dielectrics combine two or more insulating materials in a many-layered film. These structures can be made to significantly outperform films composed of a single one of their constituent materials by adjusting the composition ratio, arrangement, and size of the component layers. In this work, atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to fabricate pure-oxide and nanolaminate dielectrics based upon Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂. The relative performance of these dielectrics is investigated with respect to application as gate dielectrics for ZnSnO (ZTO) and InGaZnO (IGZO) amorphous-oxide-semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistors (TFTs). AOS TFTs are promising candidates for commercial use in applications such as active-matrix displays and e-paper. It was found that the layer thickness, relative composition, and interfacial material all had an effect on TFT performance. Several variants of the Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ nanolaminate were found to exhibit superior properties to either Al₂O₃ or ZrO₂ alone. / Graduation date: 2011

xx, 153 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In the research area of Group 13 hydroxide clusters, progress is often hampered by difficult and inefficient synthetic procedures. This has greatly limited the numerous potential applications of Group 13 hydroxide compounds, many of which require large amounts of material. Most relevant to this dissertation is their application as precursors for high quality amorphous metal oxide thin films. Addressing this issue, this dissertation presents a series of Group 13 containing hydroxide compounds of general formula [M 13 (μ 3 -OH) 6 (μ-OH) 18 (H 2 O) 24 ](NO 3 ) 15 which are generated through an efficient, scalable synthetic procedure. Throughout this dissertation, the compounds are generally referred to by their metal content, i.e. [Ga 13 (μ 3 -OH) 6 (μ-OH) 18 (H 2 O) 24 ](NO 3 ) 15 is designated as Ga 13 . Chapter I reviews the literature of inorganic and ligand-supported Group 13 hydroxide compounds with the aim of identifying common structural trends in metal composition and coordinating ligands. This summary is limited to clusters of aluminum, gallium, and indium. Chapter II describes in detail the synthesis and characterization of one such cluster, Al 13 . Following this in Chapter III is the description of the first heterometallic Group 13 hydroxide compound, Ga 7 In 6 , which along with Ga 13 was used as a precursor material for metal oxide thin films in collaboration with Professor Doug Keszler at Oregon State University. Chapter IV describes a series of six Ga/In compounds, as well as two Al/In compounds. Included in this chapter is an analysis of the heat-induced decomposition properties of the Ga/In clusters. Understanding such thermal decomposition is particularly relevant for the use of these compounds as precursor materials, as an annealing step is used to condense the films. Chapter V addresses the potential for post-synthetic modification of the compounds through metal and ligand exchange reactions, an area that also addresses the issue of solution stability of the structures Chapter VI describes the synthesis and characterization of related Group 13 compounds, including two infinite chain structures and additional heterometallic compounds. Lastly, Chapter VII concludes this dissertation and discusses potential areas of future research. This dissertation includes co-authored material and previously published results. / Committee in charge: Victoria DeRose, Chairperson, Chemistry; Darren Johnson, Member, Chemistry; James Hutchison, Member, Chemistry; Michael Haley, Member, Chemistry; Raghuveer Parthasarathy, Outside Member, Physics

Thin film transistors (TFTs) can be used to determine the bulk-like mobilities of amorphous semiconductors. Different organic hole transporters (HTs) are under investigation including spiro-TPD, 2TNATA, NPB and TPD which are commonly used in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In addition, we also measure the TFT hole mobilities of two iridium phosphors: Ir(ppy)3 and Ir(piq)3. These materials were grown on two different gate dielectric surfaces which were SiO2 and polystyrene (PS). On SiO2, the TFT mobilities are found to be 1-2 orders smaller than the bulk hole mobilities as evaluated independently by time-of-flight (TOF) technique. On the other hand, on PS gate dielectric layer, the TFT mobilities of these hole transporters are found to be in good agreement with TOF data. A thickness dependence measurement was carried out on TFT with PS. We found that only 10nm of organic semiconductor is sufficient for TFTs to achieve TOF mobilities. We further investigate why organic semiconductors on SiO2 have such huge reduction of mobilities. Temperature dependent mobility measurements were carried out and the data were analyzed by the Gaussian Disorder Model (GDM). We found that on SiO2 surface, when compared to the bulk values, the energetic disorders (σ) of the HTs increase and simultaneously, the high temperature limits (∞) of the carrier mobilities decrease. Both σ and ∞ contribute to the reduction of the carrier mobility. The increase in σ is related to the presence of randomly oriented polar Si-O bonds. The reduction of ∞ is topological in origin and is related to the orientations of the more planar molecules on SiO2. The more planar molecules tend to lie horizontally on the surface and such orientation is unfavorable for charge transport in TFT configuration. Hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites have emerged as an outstanding material for photovoltaic cells. In the second part of this work, we setup a repeatable perovskite recipe and optimized the system under different conditions. Under certain circumstances, a perovskite solar cell with power conversion efficiency ~9% can be achieved with PEDOT:PSS as hole transporting layer with the conventional structure.

abstract: ABSTRACT This work seeks to develop a practical solution for short range ultrasonic communications and produce an integrated array of acoustic transmitters on a flexible substrate. This is done using flexible thin film transistor (TFT) and micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). The goal is to develop a flexible system capable of communicating in the ultrasonic frequency range at a distance of 10 - 100 meters. This requires a great deal of innovation on the part of the FDC team developing the TFT driving circuitry and the MEMS team adapting the technology for fabrication on a flexible substrate. The technologies required for this research are independently developed. The TFT development is driven primarily by research into flexible displays. The MEMS development is driving by research in biosensors and micro actuators. This project involves the integration of TFT flexible circuit capabilities with MEMS micro actuators in the novel area of flexible acoustic transmitter arrays. This thesis focuses on the design, testing and analysis of the circuit components required for this project. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2012

Thin Film Transistors (TFTs) are widely used in large area electronics because they offer the advantage of low cost fabrication and wide substrate choice. TFTs have been conventionally used for switching applications in large area display arrays. But when it comes to designing a sensor actuator system on a flexible substrate comprising entirely of organic and inorganic TFTs, there are two main challenges – i) Fabrication of complementary TFT devices is difficult ii) TFTs have a drift in their threshold voltage (VT) on application of gate bias. Also currently there are no circuit simulators in the market which account for the effect of VT drift with time in TFT circuits. The first part of this thesis focuses on integrating the VT shift model in the commercially available AIM-Spice circuit simulator. This provides a new and powerful tool that would predict the effect of VT shift on nodal voltages and currents in circuits and also on parameters like small signal gain, bandwidth, hysteresis etc. Since the existing amorphous silicon TFT models (level 11 and level 15) of AIM-Spice are copyright protected, the open source BSIM4V4 model for the purpose of demonstration is used. The simulator is discussed in detail and an algorithm for integration is provided which is then supported by the data from the simulation plots and experimental results for popular TFT configurations. The second part of the thesis illustrates the idea of using negative feedback achieved via contact resistance modulation to minimize the effect of VT shift in the drain current of the TFT. Analytical expressions are derived for the exact value of resistance needed to compensate for the VT shift entirely. Circuit to realize this resistance using TFTs is also provided. All these are experimentally verified using fabricated organic P-type Copper Phthalocyanine (CuPc) and inorganic N-type Tin doped Zinc Oxide (ZTO) TFTs. The third part of the thesis focuses on building a robust amplifier using these TFTs which has time invariant DC voltage level and small signal gain at the output. A differential amplifier using ZTO TFTs has been built and is shown to fit all these criteria. Ideas on vertical routing in an actual sensor actuator interface using this amplifier have also been discussed such that the whole system may be “tearable” in any contour. Such a sensor actuator interface can have varied applications including wrap around thermometers and X-ray machines.