Insight into the High Mobility and Stability of In₂O₃:H Film

Abstract

Wide bandgap semiconductors, particularly In2O3:Sn (ITO), are widely used as transparent conductive electrodes in optoelectronic devices. Nevertheless, due to the strohave beenng scattering probability of high‐concentration oxygen vacancy (VO) defects, the mobility of ITO is always lower than 40 cm2 V−1 s−1. Recently, hydrogen‐doped In2O3 (In2O3:H) films have been proven to have high mobility (>100 cm2 V−1 s−1), but the origin of this high mobility is still unclear. Herein, a high‐resolution electron microscope and theoretical calculations are employed to investigate the atomic‐scale mechanisms behind the high carrier mobility in In2O3:H films. It is found that VO can cause strong lattice distortion and large carrier scattering probability, resulting in low carrier mobility. Furthermore, hydrogen doping can simultaneously reduce the concentration of VO, which accounts for high carrier mobility. The thermal stability and acid–base corrosion mechanism of the In2O3:H film are investigated and found that hydrogen overflows from the film at high temperatures (>250 °C), while acidic or alkaline environments can cause damage to the In2O3 grains themselves. Overall, this work provides insights into the essential reasons for high carrier mobility in In2O3:H and presents a new research approach to the doping and stability mechanisms of transparent conductive oxides.

Effect of In-Situ H Doping on the Electrical Properties of In2O3 Thin-Film Transistors

“…The XRD spectra of as-deposited In2O3 films presented low diffraction intensity and rather broad background, indicating that the as-deposited films produced through magnetron sputtering are amorphous. After annealing in air at 350 °C for 1 h, all the films turn to the polycrystalline state; as observed in Figure 1b, there are four clear characteristic peaks which correspond to the (222), (400), (440), and (622) crystal planes [22]. These observed diffraction lines agree well with the cubic bixbyite indium oxide structure (JCPDS06-0416) and Ia-3 space group (Number: 206).…”

Ultrahigh Responsivity In2O3 UVA Photodetector through Modulation of Trimethylindium Flow Rate

“…It worth noting that the mobility also gradually decreases with the decrease of the fTMIn. Since the dislocation density and number of crystallites of the In2O3 thin films increases with the decrease of the fTMIn, the decrease of mobility is speculated to be attributed to the scattering of the grain boundary [30]. The optimization of crystallinity and mobility will be further studied in future work.…”

“…In addition, the ionized oxygen vacancy can capture photogenerated electrons, and the release process is very slow after the light source is turned off, resulting in a persistent photoconductive effect and degradation of the response speed [29]. Ge et al proposed hydrogen (H) doping in In 2 O 3 through magnetron sputtering and proved H can occupy the V o [30]. With the H doping concentration of 1%, the thin film showed a high mobility of 115.3 cm 2 V −1 s −1 .…”

Wide process temperature of atomic layer deposition for In2O3 thin-film transistors using novel indium precursor (N,N′-di-tert butylacetimidamido)dimethyllindium

“…These semiconductors offer high mobility, optical transparency, deposition uniformity over a large area, and compatibility with existing semiconductor fabrication processes. In particular, indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ) film is currently attracting attention as a representative binary oxide material over zinc oxide (ZnO) owing to certain intrinsic characteristics such as its high mobility (>100 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) [7][8][9] and high transparency (>90%), indicating its potentials application as a microelectronic component in the display and semiconductor industries. In general, oxide semiconductor materials conventionally deposited using techniques such as sputtering [10], chemical vapor deposition [11], and sol-gel processes [12] in both research and practice.…”