Performance enhancement of fully transparent tin-doped zinc oxide thin-film transistors fabricated by sputtering at low temperature

Fully transparent tin-doped zinc oxide thin-film transistors (TZO TFTs) were successfully fabricated on glass substrate by radio-frequency sputtering at room temperature. In this reported work, TZO is adopted as the channel layer, SiO₂ as the gate insulator and indium tin oxide as gate and source/drain electrodes. The surface morphology and crystallographic structure of the TZO films were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Sn atoms are found to successfully replace Zn sites in the lattice and form stable Sn-O bonds. Sn dopants and adding O₂ during the TZO channel deposition can enhance the device performance. The as-fabricated TZO TFT exhibited excellent electrical and optical properties. Hence, TZO can be a promising candidate for the next generation driving active-matrix flat panel displays.