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A set of bottom-gate Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin film transistors (TFTs) with active layers containing 1, 4 and 8 layers of spin-coated ZnO were fabricated and their electrical characteristics such as transistor transfer and capacitance-voltage characteristics were analyzed. The transconductance of the single-layered ZnO transistor shows a single peak. On the other hand, multiple peaks and humps were observed in the transconductance and capacitance-voltage characteristics of multi-layered ZnO transistors. The multi-layers were grown by reiteration of the spin-coating process, producing ZnO − ZnO interlayer-interfaces. The surface of the ZnO layer in contact with the ambient contains active sites, resulting in chemisorption of ambient gases such as oxygen prior to the deposition of subsequent layers. The chemisorbed species become negatively-charged and form charge sheets, depleting the surface/interface region. It was proposed that the formation of depletion layers at ZnO − ZnO interlayer-interfaces is the main cause for the observed anomaly.

The effect of gamma-ray (γ-ray) irradiation on the material characteristics of nanometre scale films of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) has been investigated. 3.2, 4.5, and 5.2 nm thick MoS2 films (measured by atomic force microscopy) were grown on Si by using a two-step synthesis method (sputtering of Mo, followed by sulphurisation). The samples were subsequently exposed to γ-ray irradiation (dose of 120 MRad). Dramatic chemical changes in the MoS2 films after irradiation were characterised by micro-Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical microscopy. Micro-Raman spectroscopy showed the disappearance of the E 2g 1 and A 1g modes after irradiation. XPS revealed that the MoS2 crystal structure was converted to molybdenum oxide (MoO x ). It is hypothesised that S vacancies are formed due to the γ-ray irradiation, which subsequently transforms MoS2 to MoO x .

The enhancement in electrical characteristics of the thin film transistors (TFTs) based on the mixed-stacked amorphous zinc tin oxide (a-ZTO) with an alternating precursor concentration is reported. The channel layers were deposited via sol-gel on oxidised p-Si. The source/drain ohmic contacts were prepared on the ZTO layer, constructing the bottom-gate TFTs. In this investigation, the TFTs with the following three channel layers were fabricated, and their characteristics were compared; (i) four layers produced from 0.05 M precursor solution, (ii) four layers produced from 0.2 M precursor solution, and (iii) four layers with alternating 0.05 and 0.2 M precursor solutions. It was found that the mobility (5.3 cm 2 /V s) of the TFT fabricated with the channel layers with alternating precursor concentration was higher than those with single concentration. Although the mechanism for this mobility enhancement is still being further analysed, it was conjectured that alternating precursor concentration might have reduced the trap density in the transistor channel and/or ZTO/SiO 2 interfaces.

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Time-resolved photocurrent (TRPC) spectroscopy with a variable-wavelength sub-bandgap light excitation was used to study the dynamics of the decaying photocurrent generated in the heterostructures of the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) layers. In AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, reliability of the device is degraded due to the prevalence of current collapse. It is recognized that electrically active deep level defects at the surface/interfaces and the bulk in the HEMTs layers can contribute to the unwanted current collapse effect. Therefore, it is of great importance to analyze the deep level defects if the reliability of the HEMTs device is to be improved. In this research, TRPC spectroscopy was used to elucidate the origin and nature of the deep level defects by analyzing the time evolution of the photocurrent decay excited at different wavelengths of light. The two devices that show similar characteristics for wavelength-dependency on photocurrent generation were chosen, and TRPC spectroscopy was conducted on these devices. Although the two samples show similar characteristics for the wavelength-dependency on photocurrent generation, they exhibited dissimilar time-dependent photocurrent decay dynamics. This implies that TRPC spectroscopy can be used to distinguish the traps which have different origins but have the same de-trapping energy. Scopus

Proton irradiation-induced effects on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were studied by emulating a certain space radiation environment (upstream of the earth's bow shock) using a relatively low energy (100 keV) proton beam with fluences of 1 × 1010, 1 × 1012, and 1 × 1014 protons/cm2. In order to isolate radiation-induced effects produced by the modification of the epi-layer from the effects produced by the change in the device structure (such as contacts), the epi-layers were irradiated prior to device fabrication, followed by material/device characterization. Proton irradiation-induced sub-gap traps were detected by spectroscopic photo current-voltage measurement. Raman study revealed that the proton irradiation had induced strain relaxation on the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs epi-layer. No substantial change in the crystal quality of the epi-layer was indicated by Raman and PL studies. With increasing proton fluences, increasing charge carrier density was observed, which was estimated via Raman spectroscopy and the charge-control model analysis. The magnitude and direction of the transistor threshold voltage shift were also dependent on proton fluence. Overall, degradation of transistor output characteristics of the fabricated HEMTs was observed with increasing proton fluence. However, based on the observed performance and the level of influence on material/device characteristics by 100 keV protons, it can be suggested that the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have high endurance for exposure to relatively high fluences of the low-energy proton beam.

We report on the fabrication and electrical characterization of bottom gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on a sol-gel derived ZnO channel layer. The effect of annealing of ZnO active channel layers on the electrical characteristics of the ZnO TFTs was systematically investigated. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate that the crystal quality of the ZnO improves with increasing annealing temperature. Both the device turn-on voltage (Von) and threshold voltage (VT) shift to a positive voltage with increasing annealing temperature. As the annealing temperature is increased, both the subthreshold slope and the interfacial defect density (Dit) decrease. The field effect mobility (?FET) increases with annealing temperature, peaking at 800 �C and decreases upon further temperature increase. An improvement in transfer and output characteristics was observed with increasing annealing temperature. However, when the annealing temperature reaches 900 �C, the TFTs demonstrate a large degradation in both transfer and output characteristics, which is possibly produced by non-continuous coverage of the film. By using the temperature-dependent field effect measurements, the localized sub-gap density of states (DOSs) for ZnO TFTs with different annealing temperatures were determined. The DOSs for the subthreshold regime decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 600 �C to 800 �C and no substantial change was observed with further temperature increase to 900 �C. - 2017 Author(s). The project was funded by AU-IGP. Park would like to thank Walter Professorship for partial support of this project. Scopus

In this paper, the authors report the device instability of solution based ZnO thin film transistors by studying the time-evolution of electrical characteristics during electrical stressing and subsequent relaxation. A systematic comparison between ambient and vacuum conditions was carried out to investigate the effect of adsorption of oxygen and water molecules, which leads to the creation of defects in the channel layer. The observed subthreshold swing and change in field effect mobility under gate bias stressing have supported the fact that oxygen and moisture directly affect the threshold voltage shift. The authors have presented the comprehensive analysis of device relaxation under both ambient and vacuum conditions to further confirm the defect creation and charge trapping/detrapping process since it has not been reported before. It was hypothesized that chemisorbed molecules form acceptorlike traps and can diffuse into the ZnO thin film through the void on the grain boundary, being relocated even near the semiconductor/dielectric interface. The stretched exponential and power law model fitting reinforce the conclusion of defect creation by oxygen and moisture adsorption on the active layer Scopus

A comparative study on the direct-current (dc) electrical performance and optical characteristics of unirradiated and 120 MRad 60Co-gamma-ray (γ-ray) irradiated AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) was performed. The devices fabricated on an irradiated HEMT epilayer structure show slight degradation/alteration in the dc characteristics such as source–drain current–voltage (IDS-VDS), transfer (IDS-VGS), transconductance, and gate current–voltage, indicating the presence of radiation-induced defects. Also, a shift in flat band voltage was observed from the capacitance-voltage measurements. Micro-Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were used to compare the crystal quality of the heterojunction. No shift in the Raman peak frequency position was observed in both the unirradiated and irradiated samples, which implies that the irradiation did not produce an additional strain to the HEMT layers. However, the full width at half maximum of the Raman and near-band-edge PL peaks...

We have demonstrated that the depth-dependent defect distribution of the deep level traps in the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) epi-structures can be analyzed by using the depth-resolved ultra-violet (UV) spectroscopic photo current-voltage (IV) (DR-UV-SPIV). It is of great importance to analyze deep level defects in the AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure, since it is recognized that deep level defects are the main source for causing current collapse phenomena leading to reduced device reliability. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT epi-layers were grown on a 6 in. Si wafer by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The DR-UV-SPIV measurement was performed using a monochromatized UV light illumination from a Xe lamp. The key strength of the DR-UV-SPIV is its ability to provide information on the depth-dependent electrically active defect distribution along the epi-layer growth direction. The DR-UV-SPIV data showed variations in the depth-dependent defect distribution across the wafer. As a result, rapid feedback on the depth-dependent electrical homogeneity of the electrically active defect distribution in the AlGaN/GaN HEMT epi-structure grown on a Si wafer with minimal sample preparation can be elucidated from the DR-UV-SPIV in combination with our previously demonstrated spectroscopic photo-IV measurement with the sub-bandgap excitation.