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High-performance enhancement-mode thin-film transistors based on Mg-doped In2O3 nanofiber networks

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Abstract

Although In2O3 nanofibers (NFs) are well-known candidates as active materials for next-generation, low-cost electronics, these NF based devices still suffer from high leakage current, insufficient on–off current ratios (Ion/Ioff), and large, negative threshold voltages (VTH), leading to poor device performance, parasitic energy consumption, and rather complicated circuit design. Here, instead of the conventional surface modification of In2O3 NFs, we present a one-step electrospinning process (i.e., without hot-press) to obtain controllable Mg-doped In2O3 NF networks to achieve high-performance enhancement-mode thin-film transistors (TFTs). By simply adjusting the Mg doping concentration, the device performance can be manipulated precisely. For the optimal doping concentration of 2 mol%, the devices exhibit a small VTH (3.2 V), high saturation current (1.1 × 10–4 A), large on/off current ratio (>108), and respectable peak carrier mobility (2.04 cm2/(V·s)), corresponding to one of the best device performances among all 1D metal-oxide NFs based devices reported so far. When high-κ HfOx thin films are employed as the gate dielectric, their electron mobility and VTH can be further improved to 5.30 cm2/(V·s) and 0.9 V, respectively, which demonstrates the promising prospect of these Mg-doped In2O3 NF networks for highperformance, large-scale, and low-power electronics.

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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51402160, 51302154, and 51672229), the General Research Fund of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China (No. CityU 11275916), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2014EMQ011), the Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province, China, the Science Technology, and Innovation Committee of Shenzhen Municipality (No. JCYJ20160229165240684), and was supported by a grant from the Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong. The work was also supported by National Demonstration Center for Experimental Applied Physics Education (Qingdao University).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physics and Cultivation Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Hongchao Zhang, You Meng, Longfei Song, Linqu Luo, Lei Liu & Fengyun Wang

  2. Center for Advancing Materials Performance from the Nanoscale, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Yuanbin Qin

  3. State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Ning Han

  4. School of Microelectronics and Center of Nanoelectronics, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Zaixing Yang

  5. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Johnny C. Ho

  6. State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Johnny C. Ho

  7. Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Johnny C. Ho

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  1. Hongchao Zhang
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  2. You Meng
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  3. Longfei Song
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  4. Linqu Luo
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  8. Lei Liu
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  9. Johnny C. Ho
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  10. Fengyun Wang
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Correspondence to Johnny C. Ho or Fengyun Wang.

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Zhang, H., Meng, Y., Song, L. et al. High-performance enhancement-mode thin-film transistors based on Mg-doped In2O3 nanofiber networks. Nano Res. 11, 1227–1237 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1735-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1735-8

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