Praseodymium Doping Effect on Indium Tin Zinc Oxide Target Densification Process for High‐Performance TFTs

Indium‐tin‐zinc oxide (ITZO) is widely used in optoelectronic thin film transistors (TFTs) due to its excellent electrical properties and optical transparency. As the basic material for thin films, the preparation of high‐quality ITZO targets to realize the optimal performance of TFT is a challenge. In this study, high‐performance indium tin zinc oxide targets with different praseodymium (Pr) doping contents (PrITZO) with the densities of the produced targets exceed 99.0%, average grain sizes controlled within 2.3 µm, and resistivities lower than 6 mΩ·cm were prepared under two‐step sintering conditions for application in TFTs. The effects of Pr doping on the density, phase composition, grain size, and resistivity during the target densification process were further explored, and the relevant properties were verified by sputtering thin films used as the channel layer of TFT devices. The results showed that the sputtered films and TFT devices based on the target with a Pr doping of 2 wt% (ITZO‐2%Pr) exhibited excellent overall performance: the average roughness ( R a) of the film was 1.18 nm, the average transmittance ( T ) in the visible region reached 90.48%, and the TFT mobility ( µ FE ) was 22.42 cm 2 /Vs. This study not only developed a mechanism of Pr doping on the microstructure and performance of ITZO targets, but also provided an important theoretical basis and experimental support for the preparation of high‐quality Pr‐doped indium‐zinc oxide (PrITZO) targets and the application in high‐performance TFT devices.