Hot Carrier Effect in Self-Aligned In–Ga–Zn–O Thin-Film Transistors With Short Channel Length

This study examines the impact of channel length (L) on the performance of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors with self-aligned structures. The negative threshold voltage (V
_TH
) displacement for IGZO transistors with increasing drain voltage (V
_DS
) becomes severe with decreasing L from 10 to 2 μm. The V
_DS
-dependent negative V
_TH
shift can be mitigated by increasing the oxygen flow rate (OFR) ratio during a-IGZO preparation from 40% to 80%, which suppresses the number of oxygen vacancy defects near the n
⁺
drain of the a-IGZO region. In contrast, the hot carrier stress (HCS)-induced degradation in terms of the threshold voltage was accelerated for devices with increasing OFR ratio, presumably due to the creation of excessive oxygen-originated defects. The rationale for these observations is discussed with regard to the increasing local electric field near the drain junction, which was calculated by technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation. We concluded that an acceptable compromise between short channel effect and HCS-induced degradations can be achieved by choosing an intermediate OFR ratio of 64%.