Effect of atomic layer deposition temperature on the performance of top-down ZnO nanowire transistors

Mohamed Sultan, Suhana, Ditshego, N.M. Jack, Gunn, Robert, Ashburn, Peter and Chong, Harold M.H. (2014) Effect of atomic layer deposition temperature on the performance of top-down ZnO nanowire transistors. Nanoscale Research Letters, 9, 517-[7pp]. (doi:10.1186/1556-276X-9-517).

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of atomic layer deposition (ALD) temperature on the performance of top-down ZnO nanowire transistors. Electrical characteristics are presented for 10 µm ZnO nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) and for deposition temperatures in the range 120°C to 210°C. Well-behaved transistor output characteristics are obtained for all deposition temperatures. It is shown that the maximum field-effect mobility occurs for an ALD temperature of 190°C. This maximum field-effect mobility corresponds with a maximum Hall effect bulk mobility and with a ZnO film that is stoichiometric. The optimized transistors have a field-effect mobility of 10 cm²/V.s, which is approximately ten times higher than can typically be achieved in thin-film amorphous silicon transistors. Furthermore, simulations indicate that the drain current and field-effect mobility extraction are limited by the contact resistance. When the effects of contact resistance are de-embedded, a field-effect mobility of 129 cm²/V.s is obtained. This excellent result demonstrates the promise of top-down ZnO nanowire technology for a wide variety of applications such as high-performance thin-film electronics, flexible electronics, and biosensing.

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Contributors

Author: Harold M.H. Chong

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