Influence of Hf contents on interface state properties in a-HfInZnO thin-film transistors with SiNx/SiOx gate dielectrics

We evaluated the interface properties of amorphous hafnium-indium-zinc-oxide (a-HIZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with respect to various Hf contents. To this end, the subthreshold swing and the low-frequency noise (LFN) of the a-HIZO TFTs were measured and compared. From LFNs providing more accurate information, we quantitatively analyzed the interface trap densities and found that they decrease with increasing Hf contents. Although the acceptor-like tail state densities in bulk channel increase with Hf contents, higher Hf contents show lower threshold voltage shift under bias stress, implying that reliability characteristics of a-HIZO TFTs are more sensitive to interface quality rather than bulk property. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3658460]