The structural, optical and electrical characterization of high-performance, low-temperature and solution-processed alkali metal-doped ZnO TFTs

Abstract

The structural, electrical and optical properties of high-performance, low-temperature and solution-processed alkali metal-doped ZnO TFTs were studied using various analytic instruments, including HR-TEM, AFM, XPS, EDS, electrical bias stability test and UV-vis spectroscopy. Furthermore, we successfully demonstrated that a change in the optical bandgap energy of Li-doped ZnO semiconductor films supported by Burstein–Moss theory can show a trade-off relationship between the field effect mobility of Li-ZnO TFTs and the Li doping concentrations. The relative broadening of the E_opt values, which are strongly related to the amount of excited electrons from the Fermi level in the valance band to the conduction band, was observed from the undoped ZnO film to the Li-doped ZnO film (10 mol%). The increase in the electron donor concentration was the dominant reason for the enhancement in the electron mobility of the alkali metal-doped ZnO TFTs.