We demonstrate that the sequential surface modification of a ferroelectric polymer insulator plays an essential role in both the enhancement of the carrier mobility and the shift in the turn-on voltage $\left(V_{\text{on}}\right)$ in an organic ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET) for nonvolatile memory. The surface of a ferroelectric polymer insulator, poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene), is physicochemically modified by the successive treatments of ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) and ${\text{CF}}_4$ plasma to understand how the surface morphology and the hydrophobicity affect the grain size, the mobility, and $V_{\text{on}}$ in the FeFET. In a pentacene-based FeFET, the ${\text{CF}}_4$ plasma irradiation leads to the mobility enhancement by a factor of about 5 as well as the shift in $V_{\text{on}}$ toward a positive voltage direction while the UVO treatment results in only the shift in $V_{\text{on}}$ toward a negative voltage direction. It is found that the sequence of the two successive treatments is critical for tailoring interfacial interactions between the ferroelectric polymer insulator and the pentacene layer. The underlying mechanism for the mobility enhancement and the shift in $V_{\text{on}}$ is described in terms of the surface morphology and the nature of the built-in electric field.

We report on the morphological influence of solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor films on the electrical characteristics of ZnO thin-film transistors (TFTs). Different film morphologies were produced by controlling the spin-coating condition of a precursor solution, and the ZnO films were analyzed using atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. It is shown that ZnO TFTs have a superior performance in terms of the threshold voltage and field-effect mobility, when ZnO crystallites are more densely packed in the film. This is attributed to lower electrical resistivity and higher Hall mobility in a densely packed ZnO film. In the results of consecutive TFT operations, a positive shift in the threshold voltage occurred irrespective of the film morphology, but the morphological influence on the variation in the field-effect mobility was evident. The field-effect mobility in TFTs having a densely packed ZnO film increased continuously during consecutive TFT operations, which is in contrast to the mobility decrease observed in the less packed case. An analysis of the field-effect conductivities ascribes these results to the difference in energetic traps, which originate from structural defects in the ZnO films. Consequently, the morphological influence of solution-processed ZnO films on the TFT performance can be understood through the packing property of ZnO crystallites.

We investigated the influence of low-concentration indium (In) doping on the chemical and structural properties of solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) films and the electrical characteristics of bottom-gate/top-contact In-doped ZnO thin-film transistors (TFTs). The thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry analysis results showed that thermal annealing at 400 °C for 40 min produces In-doped ZnO films. As the In content of ZnO films was increased from 1% to 9%, the metal-oxygen bonding increased from 5.56% to 71.33%, while the metal-hydroxyl bonding decreased from 72.03% to 9.63%. The X-ray diffraction peaks and field-emission scanning microscope images of the ZnO films with different In concentrations revealed a better crystalline quality and reduced grain size of the solution-processed ZnO thin films. The thickness of the In-doped ZnO films also increased when the In content was increased up to 5%; however, the thickness decreased on further increasing the In content. The field-effect mobility and on/off current ratio of In-doped ZnO TFTs were notably affected by any change in the In concentration. Considering the overall TFT performance, the optimal In doping concentration in the solution-processed ZnO semiconductor was determined to be 5% in this study. These results suggest that low-concentration In incorporation is crucial for modulating the morphological characteristics of solution-processed ZnO thin films and the TFT performance.

We investigated the effects of gallium (Ga) and tin (Sn) compositions on the structural and chemical properties of Ga–Sn-mixed (Ga:Sn) oxide films and the electrical properties of Ga:Sn oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs). The thermogravimetric analysis results indicate that solution-processed oxide films can be produced via thermal annealing at 500 °C. The oxygen deficiency ratio in the Ga:Sn oxide film increased from 0.18 (Ga oxide) and 0.30 (Sn oxide) to 0.36, while the X-ray diffraction peaks corresponding to Sn oxide significantly reduced. The Ga:Sn oxide film exhibited smaller grains compared to the nanocrystalline Sn oxide film, while the Ga oxide film exhibited an amorphous morphology. We found that the electrical properties of TFTs significantly improve by mixing Ga and Sn. Here, the optimum weight ratio of the constituents in the mixture of Ga and Sn precursor sols was determined to be 1.0:0.9 (Ga precursor sol:Sn precursor sol) for application in the solution-processed Ga:Sn oxide TFTs. In addition, when the Ga(1.0):Sn(0.9) oxide film was thermally annealed at 900 °C, the field-effect mobility of the TFT was notably enhanced from 0.02 to 1.03 cm²/Vs. Therefore, the mixing concentration ratio and annealing temperature are crucial for the chemical and morphological properties of solution-processed Ga:Sn oxide films and for the TFT performance.

An ultra-fast and simple method for forming high-performance metal oxide semiconductor by a solution process based on sol–gel condensation in ambient air using pulse ultraviolet-light annealing is proposed for the thin-film transistor (TFT) application. Even a small amount of light absorbance by the transparent metal oxide film provide sufficient energy to carry out sol–gel condensation because of the extremely high peak energy and broad irradiation spectrum of the xenon lamp used in this study. The fabricated indium zinc oxide TFTs had a field-effect mobility of 2.4 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, which is comparable to a device performance of 2.7 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ obtained through thermal annealing.