Cation composition ratio and channel length effects on bias stress instability in amorphous InGaZnO back-end-of-line field-effect transistors

Abstract This study optimizes VT and ΔVT in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) field-effect transistors (FETs) by examining the influence of both channel length (L) and Ga composition. It was observed that as the ratio of In: Ga: Zn changed from 1:1:1 to 0.307:0.39:0.303 in the IGZO film, both VT and ΔVT decreased by 0.1 V at the shortest channel length (L = 0.5 μm). This reduction was attributed to the change in the oxygen concentration in IGZO due to the variation in Ga composition. In addition, as the channel length decreased from 10 μm to 0.5 μm, VT decreased by up to 0.7 V, and ΔVT decreased by up to 0.4 V. This observation was due to diffusion of oxygen vacancies (VO) from the source and drain into the main channel. To provide a comprehensive understanding, we quantitatively modeled the doping concentration of IGZO and the trap density of gate insulator (GI) traps using TCAD simulation based on Ga composition and diffusion of VO. Using this approach, we propose a method to optimize the design of a-IGZO FETs with high VT and low ΔVT in short-channel devices by adjusting the Ga composition.