Facile and environmentally friendly solution-processed aluminum oxide dielectric for low-temperature, high-performance oxide thin-film transistors.

We developed a facile and environmentally friendly solution-processed method for aluminum oxide (AlOx) dielectrics. The formation and properties of AlOx thin films under various annealing temperatures were intensively investigated by thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), impedance spectroscopy, and leakage current measurements. The sol-gel-derived AlOx thin film undergoes the decomposition of organic residuals and nitrate groups, as well as conversion of aluminum hydroxides to form aluminum oxide, as the annealing temperature increases. Finally, the AlOx film is used as gate dielectric for a variety of low-temperature solution-processed oxide TFTs. Above all, the In2O3 and InZnO TFTs exhibited high average mobilities of 57.2 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and 10.1 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), as well as an on/off current ratio of ∼10(5) and low operating voltages of 4 V at a maximum processing temperature of 300 °C. Therefore, the solution-processable AlOx could be a promising candidate dielectric for low-cost, low-temperature, and high-performance oxide electronics.