Top-gate zinc tin oxide thin-film transistors with high bias and environmental stress stability

Top gated metal-oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) provide two benefits compared to their conventional bottom-gate counterparts: (i) The gate dielectric may concomitantly serve as encapsulation layer for the TFT channel. (ii) Damage of the dielectric due to high-energetic particles during channel deposition can be avoided. In our work, the top-gate dielectric is prepared by ozone based atomic layer deposition at low temperatures. For ultra-low gas permeation rates, we introduce nano-laminates of Al2O3/ZrO2 as dielectrics. The resulting TFTs show a superior environmental stability even at elevated temperatures. Their outstanding stability vs. bias stress is benchmarked against bottom-gate devices with encapsulation. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.