Polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistor with nickel-titanium oxide by sol-gel spin-coating and nitrogen implantation

This study demonstrates polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) integrated with a high-κ nickel-titanium oxide (NiTiO ₃) gate dielectric using sol-gel spin-coating and nitrogen channel implantation. This novel fabrication method of the high-κ NiTiO ₃ gate dielectric offers thin equivalent-oxide thickness and high gate capacitance density, favorable for increasing the current driving capability. Introducing nitrogen ions into the poly-Si using implantation effectively passivates the trap states not only in the poly-Si channel but also at the gate dielectric/poly-Si interface. The poly-Si NiTiO ₃ TFTs with nitrogen implantation exhibit significantly improved electrical characteristics, including lower threshold voltage, a steeper subthreshold swing, higher field-effect mobility, a larger on/off current ratio, and less threshold-voltage roll-off. Furthermore, the nitrogen implantation improves the reliability of poly-Si NiTiO ₃ TFTs against hot-carrier stress and positive bias temperature instability. front matter