Solution-Processed Zinc Oxide Thin-Film Transistors With a Low-Temperature Polymer Passivation Layer

Bottom-gate top-contact zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film transistors were fabricated with a low annealing temperature (150 °C) using ammine-hydroxo zinc precursors. The unpassivated devices present profound hysteresis in the measured current-voltage characteristics and a negative output conductance, which were attributed to the interaction of back surface with the oxygen molecules in the ambient atmosphere. To suppress the ambient influence without impacting the device's intrinsic performance, a simple low-temperature (75 °C ) solution-based passivation approach with polydimethylsiloxane was developed. The passivated devices present typical field-effect transistor behaviors of greatly improved device performance.