Correlation between Ti source/drain contact and performance of InGaZnO-based thin film transistors

Ti contact properties and their electrical contribution to an amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) semiconductor-based thin film transistor (TFT) were investigated in terms of chemical, structural, and electrical considerations. TFT device parameters were quantitatively studied by a transmission line method. By comparing various a-IGZO TFT parameters with those of different Ag and Ti source/drain electrodes, Ti S/D contact with an a-IGZO channel was found to lead to a negative shift in V-T (-Delta 0.52 V). This resulted in higher saturation mobility (8.48 cm(2)/Vs) of a-IGZO TFTs due to effective interfacial reaction between Ti and an a-IGZO semiconducting layer. Based on transmission electron microcopy, x-ray photoelectron depth profile analyses, and numerical calculation of TFT parameters, we suggest a possible Ti contact mechanism on semiconducting a-IGZO channel layers for TFTs. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4790357]