Effect of Mechanical and Electromechanical Stress on a-ZIO TFTs

In this letter, we report the effects of electromechanical and mechanical strain on amorphous ZIO thin-film transistors (TFTs), deformed on cylindrical surfaces of varying radii for varying time spans. The TFTs were fabricated on island structures on polyethylene napthalate and subjected to both tensile and compressive stress, parallel and perpendicular to the conducting channel length. Mobility increased while the subthreshold slope decreased with tensile stress, and reverse changes were observed with compressive stress, both being parallel to the channel length. Almost no changes were observed for perpendicular stress, within experimental errors. The magnitude of change also depended on the time duration of the strain. None of the changes were catastrophic to cause complete failure of the devices.