Electron irradiation effects on electrical and optical properties of sol-gel prepared ZnO films

The effect of short-duration ultraviolet (UV) exposure on the threshold voltage (V th ) of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin film transistors (TFTs) and its recovery characteristics were investigated. The V th exhibited a significant negative shift after UV exposure. The V th instability caused by UV illumination is attributed to the positive charge trapping in the dielectric layer and/or at the channel/dielectric interface. The illuminated devices showed a slow recovery in threshold voltage without external bias. However, an instant recovery can be achieved by the application of positive gate pulses, which is due to the elimination of the positive trapped charges as a result of the presence of a large amount of field-induced electrons in the interface region. V

Evolution of dielectric function of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films with annealing temperature is observed. It is shown that the evolution is due to the changes in both the band gap and the free-electron absorption as a result of the change of free-electron concentration of the AZO thin films. The change of the electron concentration could be attributed to the activation of Al dopant and the creation/annihilation of the donor-like defects like oxygen vacancy in the thin films caused by annealing.