Dongwoo
Kim
,
Yeong-gyu
Kim
,
Byung Ha
Kang
,
Jin Hyeok
Lee
,
Jusung
Chung
and
Hyun Jae
Kim
*
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Republic of Korea. E-mail: hjk3@yonsei.ac.kr
First published on 15th November 2019
We developed amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) phototransistors that could sense up to the red light region of the visible light spectrum. The vital element of the utilized technology in this study is the creation of defects within the a-IGZO thin film that serves as the channel layer of a thin film transistor (TFT) through structural engineering. The defects are induced by inserting mesh-structured titanium dioxide (m-TiO2) layers inside the channel. The oxygen vacancies thus generated create subgap states within the band gap of a-IGZO, enabling detection of the visible light with wide wavelengths. As a result, the optimized a-IGZO phototransistor with m-TiO2 inserted inside the channel layer exhibited a photoresponsivity of 178.66 A W−1, a photosensitivity of 1.04 × 105, and a detectivity of 1.25 × 1010 Jones under monochromatic red light (635 nm wavelength) illumination.
Presently, among various types of photosensors, thin-film transistor (TFT)-based photosensors, i.e., phototransistors, using amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) as the channel layers are exceptionally promising as they have wavelength- and intensity-selectivity in terms of the incident light. This is because the AOSs that are used as the channel layers usually have a wide band gap of around 3.0 eV and subgap states within. When the incident light has much lower energy than the band gap energy, the light is absorbed only by electrons trapped at subgap states within the band gap. As the intensity of the light increases, more photons are emitted. Therefore, an increased number of photons are absorbed by more electrons trapped at subgap states and the drain current (ID) increases accordingly. Similarly, as the wavelength of the incident light decreases, the light energy increases, and thus photons penetrate further into the band gap. This excites more electrons from the subgap states that lie further within the band gap, so this increases ID accordingly.5
Additionally, AOS-based TFTs exhibit high uniformity over large area similar to amorphous silicon (a-Si), higher field-effect mobility (μFE) than a-Si-based TFTs, and lower off-current (Ioff) than low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS)-based TFTs. Therefore, many researchers have made efforts to further enhance the performance of AOS-based TFTs alone.6–10 However, due to the band gap of around 3.0 eV, AOSs have high transparency. Thus, they cannot readily absorb visible light with wide wavelength as the energy of the visible light ranges from 1.7 to 3.1 eV (700 to 400 nm in wavelengths). As one of the widely used AOSs, amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) also has this characteristic with a band gap greater than 3.0 eV. Thus, a-IGZO-based phototransistors are usually used to detect ultraviolet (UV) or blue light with energy greater than 3.0 eV.11–14 Therefore, there are many research studies to enable a-IGZO phototransistors to detect visible light of wavelength around 500 to 700 nm by depositing additional light-absorbing layers using various materials, or deliberately generating defects within the channel layer.15–20 The resulting phototransistors show excellent sensitivity to visible light. However, some of them show detection only up to the green light (around 500 to 600 nm wavelength) or require materials that are either difficult to obtain or synthesize.
In this study, a-IGZO phototransistors that could sense up to the red light with a wavelength of 635 nm are introduced via the engineering of the channel layer of the phototransistors by inserting mesh-structured titanium dioxide (m-TiO2). One of the reasons for choosing TiO2 is because titanium (Ti) is a widely known oxygen getter element,21–23 and one of many materials that finds various applications in photosensing-related devices.24–29 Also, this structure was chosen to increase the number of subgap states within the a-IGZO channel layer as this is theorized and proved to enhance light absorption of AOSs.30
Fig. 2 (a) Fabrication process of the mesh-structured TiO2 on a wafer. (b) SEM image of the mesh-structured TiO2. |
Fig. 4 shows the transfer characteristics of the a-IGZO phototransistors in the dark, under red (635 nm), green (532 nm), and blue (405 nm) light with intensities of 1, 3, 5, and 10 mW mm−2 with a VD of 10 V. Fig. 4 (a)–(c) show the transfer characteristics of the a-IGZO phototransistor without m-TiO2 inserted inside the channel, which we term the pristine a-IGZO phototransistor, under red, green, and blue light, respectively. The pristine phototransistor exhibited high sensitivity to blue light that has enough energy to excite electrons trapped at subgap states that exist deep inside the band gap. However, as the wavelength of the incident light increases, the transfer characteristics show minimal changes because less number of subgap states exists within the band gap where the energy level corresponds to the energy of the incident light. In contrast, the transfer characteristics of both the HDI and OMS a-IGZO phototransistors show considerable changes in Vth and greater differences between Iilluminated and Idark under red, green, and blue light with different intensities [Fig. 4(d)–(i)]. Hence, both types showed improved sensitivity to visible light. Moreover, both types showed improved optoelectronic characteristics compared to the pristine phototransistor, and the HDI was optimal among the three types of phototransistors.
There are three parameters that are commonly used to evaluate photosensors: photoresponsivity (PR), photosensitivity (PS), and detectivity (D*). Eqn (1)–(3) define the parameters:
PR = Jphoto/P | (1) |
PS = Iphoto/Idark | (2) |
D* = PR/(2qJdark)1/2 | (3) |
Sample | In the dark | Under red light (635 nm) | Under green light (532 nm) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
μ FE (cm2 V−1 s−1) | V th (V) | SS (V dec−1) | N t (cm−2 eV−1) | Max. PR (A W−1) | Max. PS | Max. D* (Jones) | Max. PR (A W−1) | Max. PS | Max. D* (Jones) | |
Pristine | 9.23 | 1.81 | 0.38 | 9.10 × 1011 | 28.29 | 9.52 × 10 | 2.19 × 107 | 70.38 | 6.07 × 104 | 3.21 × 109 |
HDI | 6.22 | 1.91 | 0.54 | 1.37 × 1012 | 178.66 | 1.04 × 105 | 1.25 × 1010 | 215.77 | 4.38 × 105 | 5.07 × 1010 |
OMS | 12.14 | 4.39 | 1.02 | 2.74 × 1012 | 138.74 | 9.21 × 103 | 1.44 × 109 | 265.57 | 3.59 × 105 | 4.06 × 1010 |
As we can observe, the pristine phototransistor showed the best performance as it lacks defects created by m-TiO2 inside the channel. The HDI showed decreased μFE along with slightly increased Vth and SS. The OMS showed a slightly increased μFE with greatly increased Vth and SS. For the HDI, defects are created directly at the interface of the gate insulator and the channel that serves as the front channel of the TFT where electrons are accumulated and flow during the on-state (VG > Vth). These defects create traps that impede electron flow and decrease μFE. For the OMS, defects are not created directly at the front channel since m-TiO2 is not inserted there, but rather on the top layer. Because of that, m-TiO2 attracts oxygen from the front channel, creating Vo and inducing additional carrier (electron) generation that increases μFE.36,37 On the other hand, the increases in Vth and SS of both the HDI and OMS a-IGZO phototransistors indicate formation of parasitic transistors by m-TiO2. As a well-known semiconductor with a band gap of around 3.2 eV, TiO2 is an n-type semiconductor confirmed by previous studies.24,26–29,38 Since the band gap of m-TiO2 is narrower than the band gap of a-IGZO used in this work which is shown in Fig. 5, current flows through TiO2 before a-IGZO when enough VG is applied to the phototransistors. This also explains the hump observed in the transfer curves as VG required to turn on TiO2 is less than that required to turn on a-IGZO.39,40 Also, greater increases in Vth and SS of the OMS than those of the HDI are explained by the greater number of defects (Nt) inside the channel (2.74 × 1012 cm−2 eV−1 for the OMS, i.e., twice the number of defects of the HDI). The calculation method of Nt is explained in the ESI.†34
Although defects induced by m-TiO2 insertion caused degradation in transistor performances, they enhanced photosensor performances with the HDI exhibiting the best sensitivity to red light. The PR improved from 28.29 to 178.66 A W−1, the PS from 9.52 × 10 to 1.04 × 105, and the D* from 2.19 × 107 to 1.25 × 1010 Jones under red light at an intensity of 10 mW mm−2 with a VD of 10 V. Under green light, the PR of the OMS showed higher improvement from 70.38 to 265.57 A W−1 while PR of the HDI improved to 215.77 A W−1. However, the PS and D* were higher for the HDI than the OMS. The PS under green light improved from 6.07 × 104 to 4.38 × 105 and 3.59 × 105 for the HDI and OMS, respectively. D* under green light improved from 3.21 × 109 to 5.07 × 1010 and 4.06 × 1010 for the HDI and OMS, respectively. Thus, with the exception of the PR under green light, the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor exhibited the best optoelectronic properties among the three phototransistors.
We next investigated why the optoelectronic performance improved by analyzing the XPS depth profiles of the O 1s peaks for all three phototransistors. Fig. 6(a) shows that the channel layer of the pristine a-IGZO phototransistor mostly consisted of M–O bonding and as the depth changes, there are only slight changes in the percentages of M–O bonding, Vo, and –OH bonding. Because the percentage of M–O bonding is dominant among all O 1s peaks, the pristine phototransistor showed the best electrical properties in the dark. Also, the presence of Vo explains its sensitivity to the blue light even though the band gap of the pristine a-IGZO film is around 3.70 eV. Now for both the HDI and OMS a-IGZO phototransistors as shown in Fig. 6(b) and (c), the percentages of M–O bonding decreased significantly from the near-surface (2.1 nm depth for the HDI and 2.8 nm depth for the OMS) to where m-TiO2 was inserted (19.0 and 35.9 nm depths for the HDI and 14.0 and 28.1 nm depths for the OMS). In turn, the percentages of Vo for the HDI increased from the near-surface to the depths mentioned above. For the OMS, Vo stayed almost the same for all the depths but started with higher percentage at the near-surface. For the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor, the increase in the percentage of Vo indicates the formation of subgap states within the band gap of a-IGZO that allow absorption of red light.19 For the OMS a-IGZO phototransistor, the percentage of Vo remained almost the same but started with higher percentage than that of the pristine phototransistor. This is because m-TiO2 in the OMS is inserted nearer to the surface than in the HDI. Also similar to the HDI, this higher percentage of Vo also indicates formation of subgap states. Moreover, the percentages of –OH bonding increased as the depth became deeper. This generation of more –OH bonding is because the defects bonded with hydrogens and generated –OH radicals as both the HDI and OMS a-IGZO phototransistors showed higher percentages than the pristine phototransistor. However, as the percentage of Vo is higher than the percentage of M–O bonding, the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor showed degraded electrical performance in the dark including decreased μFE. As for the OMS, the percentage of M–O bonding was the highest and thus the extra carriers generated by increased amounts of Vo and –OH bonding caused an increase in μFE compared to those of the pristine and the HDI a-IGZO phototransistors.41
Fig. 6 De-convoluted O 1s XPS depth profiles at various depths for the channel layers of (a) the pristine, (b) the HDI, and (c) the OMS a-IGZO phototransistors. |
The increased amount of Vo is caused by Ti as it strongly bonds with oxygen (O) than any other element of the a-IGZO film. As a well-known O getter, Ti has a strong Ti–O bond energy of about 7.0 eV whereas In–O, Ga–O, and Zn–O bond energies are 1.7, 2.0, and 1.5 eV, respectively.36,37 Therefore, during thermal annealing of the phototransistors, the O atoms are attracted towards Ti atoms more so than towards In, Ga, or Zn within the a-IGZO film. Thus, more Vos are generated where m-TiO2 is inserted as shown in Fig. 7. From here on, we do not further discuss the OMS a-IGZO phototransistor because the explanation would be redundant with the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor although the number of Vo generated is different.
Fig. 7 Comparison of schematic illustrations of the formation of oxygen vacancies at the interface of the a-IGZO and SiO2 layers for the pristine and the HDI a-IGZO phototransistors. |
As Vos are formed within the channel of the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor, more subgap states are created within the band gap of a-IGZO as shown in Fig. 8.19,30,36,41 As visible light is illuminated on the phototransistor, the pristine phototransistor cannot absorb it given the large band gap and lack of enough number of subgap states. However, the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor can absorb the light through the abundant number of subgap states which repeatedly trap and excite electrons and contribute them to the photocurrent.
Fig. 8 Comparison of operation mechanisms for (a) the pristine and (b) the HDI a-IGZO phototransistors under visible light illumination and VG < 0 V. |
The time-dependent photoresponse characteristic of the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor was investigated by switching the red laser on and off with an intensity of 10 mW mm−2 at a rate of 0.1 Hz. The ID was measured at VG = −1 V and VD = 10 V. As red light is significantly more difficult to detect than any other visible light, measurement under red light is of particular importance compared to any other visible light. However, Fig. 9(a) shows slight increases in both Iilluminated and Idark due to the existence of persistent photocurrent (PPC) originating from the slow recombination due to the traps that exist uniquely in oxide semiconductors.42 As the defects within the HDI a-IGZO phototransistor are deliberately created at the interface of the channel and the gate insulator, electrons become trapped more often, reducing both the response time and recovery time. However, this PPC issue could be resolved by applying a short but highly positive gate pulse bias (+35 V for 5 ms) immediately after the light is turned off [Fig. 9(b)]. This highly positive gate pulse bias induces recombination and detrapping of photoexcited electrons.7,8,15,19,42 After the endurance test, the negative bias stress (NBS) test was also performed to observe the stability of the device under ambient conditions without light at a gate voltage of −1 V, a voltage also used for the endurance tests and for the detection of the light. The NBS tests were performed for the HDI phototransistors as shown in Fig. S2 (ESI†). As the graphs show, there is only a minimal change in the threshold voltage which was about −2.11 V, showing that the ambience has almost no influence under negative bias.43–46 In order to check this, we have also deposited a passivation layer (Y2O3) and tested the stability under NBS. The threshold voltage shift was around −1.48 V, which has reduced but similar enough to show that the ambience has almost no effect on the device under negative bias. On the other hand, for the positive bias stress (PBS) test, the HDI phototransistor showed a significant positive threshold voltage shift of around +8.11 V without passivation. With a passivation layer, the positive threshold voltage shift has reduced to +5.64 V, which indicates that the ambience, mainly oxygen and water molecules,46–49 has a significant effect in addition to the defects that have been made inside the channel layer. However, with a suitable passivation layer, the degradation could be reduced, and thus the device could be used without many problems.19,48–50
Footnote |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c9tc04982g |
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 |