Improved Electrical Properties of Solution-Processed ZrO2 Gate Dielectric for Large-Area Flexible Electronics

• Published in: Jpn J Appl Phys Vol. 52; no. 10; pp. 100206 - 100206-3
• Main Authors: Hasan, Musarrat, Jang, Mi, Kim, Dong-Hyoub, Nguyen, Manh Cuong, Yang, Hoichang, Jeong, Jae Kyeong, Choi, Rino
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japan Society of Applied Physics 01-10-2013
• DOI: 10.7567/JJAP.52.100206
• EISSN: 1347-4065
• ISSN: 0021-4922

Zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ), which has high dielectric constant, was investigated for application in flexible electronics. When the spun-cast film was annealed at a low temperature, the electrical properties were not encouraging because residual organic particles remained at the dielectric. To address this problem we used plasma annealing at a reasonably low temperature and achieved improved dielectric properties such as lower leakage current, higher dielectric constant, and better reliability. Auger depth profile spectroscopy results suggested reduction of carbon percentage at the dielectric. We demonstrated device application by fabricating transistor device with an organic channel layer. The transistor electrical properties were encouraging, exhibiting an electron mobility of 0.3 cm 2 /(V$\cdot$s). The results were very promising and suggest that ZrO 2 could be applied to all-printed electronic devices in the near future.