In this paper, we demonstrate high-performance and hysteresis-free solution-processed indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) and high-frequency-operating seven-stage ring oscillators using a low-temperature photochemically activated Al2O3/ZrO2 bilayer gate dielectric. It was found that the IGZO TFTs with single-layer gate dielectrics such as Al2O3, ZrO2, or sodium-doped Al2O3 exhibited large hysteresis, low field-effect mobility, or unstable device operation owing to the interfacial/bulk trap states, insufficient band offset, or a substantial number of mobile ions present in the gate dielectric layer, respectively. To resolve these issues and to explain the underlying physical mechanisms, a series of electrical analyses for various single- and bilayer gate dielectrics was carried out. It is shown that compared to single-layer gate dielectrics, the Al2O3/ZrO2 gate dielectric exhibited a high dielectric constant of 8.53, low leakage current density (∼10-9 A cm-2 at 1 MV cm-1), and stable operation at high frequencies. Using the photochemically activated Al2O3/ZrO2 gate dielectric, the seven-stage ring oscillators operating at an oscillation frequency of ∼334 kHz with a propagation delay of <216 ns per stage were successfully demonstrated on a polymeric substrate.
Keywords: bilayer; flexible electronics; hysteresis-free; oxide gate dielectric; photochemical activation.