Remarkable changes in interface O vacancy and metal-oxide bonds in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors by long time annealing at 250 °C

We have studied the effect of long time post-fabrication annealing on negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film-transistors. Annealing for 100 h at 250 °C increased the field effect mobility from 14.7 cm2/V s to 17.9 cm2/V s and reduced the NBIS instability remarkably. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the oxygen vacancy and OH were found to exist at the interfaces of a-IGZO with top and bottom SiO2. Long time annealing helps to decrease the vacancy concentration and increase the metal-oxygen bonds at the interfaces; this leads to increase in the free carrier concentrations in a-IGZO and field-effect mobility. X-ray reflectivity measurement indicated the increment of a-IGZO film density of 5.63 g cm−3 to 5.83 g cm−3 (3.4% increase) by 100 h annealing at 250 °C. The increase in film density reveals the decrease of O vacancy concentration and reduction of weak metal-oxygen bonds in a-IGZO, which substantially helps to improve the NBIS stability.