Field-Dependent Mobility Enhancement and Contact Resistance in a-IGZO TFTs

In this article, we performed gated four-probe measurements on amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) to extract their intrinsic mobility and contact resistance as functions of gate voltage and temperature. The abnormal degradation of field-effect mobility was observed in a-IGZO TFTs both at high gate voltage and at high temperature. Results showed that contact resistance played a major role in mobility degradation at high gate bias, whereas band-like transport (phonon scattering) accounts for mobility degeneration at high temperature. We proposed a novel method, which exposed the contact regions to ultraviolet (UV) ozone. The mobility was boosted from 23 to 30 cm
²
/Vs, nearly 40% increment at high gate bias.