Due to their low-temperature processing capability and ionic bonding configuration,
amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS) are well suited for applications within future
mechanically flexible electronics. Over the past couple of years, amorphous zinc tin oxide
(ZTO) has been proposed as indiumand gallium-free and thus more sustainable alternative
to the widely deployed indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO). The present study specifically
focuses on the strain-dependence of elastic and electrical properties of amorphous zinc tin
oxide thin-films sputtered at room temperature. Corresponding MESFETs have been
compared regarding their operation stability under mechanical bending for radii ranging
from 5 to 2 mm. Force-spectroscopic measurements yield a plastic deformation of ZTO as
soon as the bending-induced strain exceeds 0.83%. However, the electrical properties of
ZTO determined by Hall effect measurements at room temperature are demonstrated to
be unaffected by residual compressive and tensile strain up to 1.24 %. Even for the
maximum investigated tensile strain of 1.26 %, the MESFETs exhibit a reasonably
consistent performance in terms of current on/off ratios between six and seven orders
of magnitude, a subthreshold swing around 350 mV/dec and a field-effect mobility as high
as 7.5 cm2Vā1sā1. Upon gradually subjecting the transistors to higher tensile strain, the
channel conductivity steadily improves and consequently, the field-effect mobility
increases by nearly 80% while bending the devices around a radius of 2 mm. Further,
a reversible threshold voltage shift of about ā150 mV with increasing strain is observable.
Overall, amorphous ZTO provides reasonably stable electrical properties and device
performance for bending-induced tensile strain up to at least 1.26% and thus
represent a promising material of choice considering novel bendable and transparent
electronics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:89094 |
| Date | 17 January 2024 |
| Creators | Lahr, Oliver, Steudel, Max, von Wenckstern, Holger, Grundmann, Marius |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 797308 |
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