Dynamics of Threshold Voltage Instability in IGZO TFTs: Impact of High Pressurized Oxygen Treatment on the Activation Energy Barrier

The effect of oxygen high pressurized treatment (OHPT) on the gate-bias thermal stress (BTS) instability of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) TFTs was investigated. OHPT at 10 atm and 300 °C produces TFTs with better reliability under the positive/negative BTS conditions, which can be attributed to the reduction in the oxygen vacancy defect. However, OHPT at a higher pressure (15 atm) deteriorated the BTS-induced stability of the IGZO TFTs. The rationale for this strong OHPT dependence on the BTS instability of IGZO TFTs was discussed based on the single-frame oxygen-related defect model.