Rapid turn-on voltage engineering of a-IGZO TFTs using xenon flash lamp annealing for logic-compatible oxide electronics

Abstract

Amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are widely used in flexible and stretchable electronic devices due to their excellent electrical properties and low-temperature process compatibility. As display technologies advance toward higher integration and flexibility, the demand for logic circuits within display panels is growing, necessitating more versatile and stable oxide TFT performance. To this end, a-IGZO TFTs are treated using xenon flash lamp annealing (XFLA), a rapid photonic technique capable of passivating defects without thermal damage. The XFLA-treated devices exhibit improved electrical characteristics, including a positive shift in turn-on voltage, reduced subthreshold swing, and decreased off-current. Based on these improvements, the circuit-level potential of XFLA was explored by implementing an NMOS inverter using a pristine a-IGZO as the depletion-mode load and an XFLA-treated TFT as the enhancement-mode driver. These results suggest that XFLA offers a practical route for turn-on voltage modulation in oxide semiconductors, enabling their use in integrated logic circuits for future display technologies.