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Tuning the inhomogeneous charge transport in ZnO interfaces for ultrahigh on/off ratio top-gated field-effect-transistor arrays

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Abstract

The interface between oxide/oxide layers shows an inhomogeneous charge transport behavior, which reveals a high conductivity owing to interface-doped. One typical example is the hetero-interface between ZnO film and other wide band gap oxides (e.g., Al2O3, TiO2, and HfO2). It is thus quite evident that the ZnO/other oxides hetero-interface contains high density electron carriers effectively screening the gate-induced electric field. Thus, an extremely weak gate modulation in ZnO film was showed, resulting in very low on/off ratio of 1.69 in top-gate field-effect-transistor (TG-FET) configuration. So, to extend the usage of ZnO TG-FET is not quite possible toward further practical application. Herein, we clarified the correlation of inhomogeneous region in oxide/oxide hetero-junction by systematically study. Our work suggests that a self-assembly of molecules (SAM) buffer layer is suitable for tuning the inhomogeneous charge transport in ZnO film, which not only reduces the interface trap density, but also effectively enhances the gate electric field modulation at the hetero-interface. We further report the robust fabrication of TG-FET arrays based on ZnO thin film, using an ultra-thin alkylphosphonic acid molecule monolayer as buffer layer. Our device demonstrates a pronounced ultrahigh on/off ratio of ≥ 108, which is 8-order of magnitude higher than that of a device without buffer layer. For the highly reliable arrays, our device exhibits a high yield of over 93% with an average on/off ratio of ~107 across the entire wafer scale, mobility (18.5 cm2/(V·s)), an extended bias-stressing (~ 2,000 s) and long-stability (~ 150 days) under ambient conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. NRF-2018R1A2B2008069), Multi-Ministry Collaborative R&D Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by KNPA, MSIT, MOTIE, ME, and NFA (No. 2017M3D9A1073539). This research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science & ICT (No. NRF-2020M3A9E4039241). Y. H. L. and D. L. D. acknowledge the support from the Institute for Basic Science (No. IBS-R011-D1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Republic of Korea

    Thanh Luan Phan, Won Tae Kang, Van Tu Vu, Min Ji Lee & Woo Jong Yu

  2. Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics (CINAP), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Suwon, 16419, Republic of Korea

    Dinh Loc Duong, Tuan Khanh Chau, Sidi Fan, Thi Suong Le, Hyun Yong Song, Quoc An Vu & Young Hee Lee

  3. Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Republic of Korea

    Dinh Loc Duong, Tuan Khanh Chau, Sidi Fan, Thi Suong Le, Hyun Yong Song, Linfeng Sun, Quoc An Vu & Young Hee Lee

  4. Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Republic of Korea

    Young Hee Lee

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  1. Thanh Luan Phan
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12274_2020_2968_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Tuning the inhomogeneous charge transport in ZnO interfaces for ultrahigh on/off ratio top-gated field-effect-transistor arrays

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Phan, T.L., Duong, D.L., Chau, T.K. et al. Tuning the inhomogeneous charge transport in ZnO interfaces for ultrahigh on/off ratio top-gated field-effect-transistor arrays. Nano Res. 13, 3033–3040 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2968-5

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