EFFECTS OF N2O-PLASMA TREATMENT OF A-SIOXNY/A-SINX GATE INSULATORS ON ELECTRICAL STABILITY OF A-SIH THIN-FILM TRANSISTORS

Abstract

N2O-plasma was used to treat the as-deposited a-SiO(x)N(y)/a-SiN(x) gate insulators of inverted-staggered a-Si:H thin-film transistors (TFTs), and its effects on electrical properties of TFTs were investigated. The TFTs with N2O-plasma-treated gate insulators tended to have a smaller threshold voltage (V(th)), V(th) Shift and hysteresis width (W(FB)) of the forward and backward transfer characteristics. In addition, the results of a bias-temperature stress (BTS) experiment showed that the N2O-Plasma-treated devices had a smaller decay of drain current with time. These phenomena demonstrated that the N2O-PlasMa treatment could be used to improve the electrical stability of a-Si:H TFTs.