Charge Transport Mechanism in p-Channel Tin Monoxide Thin-Film Transistors

In this letter, we report on the charge transport mechanism in the p-type tin monoxide (SnO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) over a wide range of operation regimes and temperatures. From the temperature-dependent field-effect conductance measurements, the variable range hopping and the trap-limited band transport are considered as dominant charge transport mechanisms in the SnO TFT at temperatures below ~ 200 K (-73 °C) and above ~273 K (0 °C), respectively, in the subthreshold and transition regions. In the above-threshold region, the intrinsic field-effect mobility (μFEi) decreases with an increase in temperature with a prefactor y ~-0.36 in the μFEi ~ Tylaw at temperatures (Ts) between RT and 353 K (80 °C). The observed temperature and gate overdrive voltage dependence of μFEi suggests that the acoustic phonon scattering is the dominant physical mechanism limiting μFEi in the p-type SnO TFT at realistic operating conditions [in the above-threshold region and at temperatures ranging from RT to 353 K (80 °C)].