Low-temperature growth of In2O3 films was demonstrated at 70-250 °C by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using a newly synthesized liquid indium precursor, dimethyl(N-ethoxy-2,2-dimethylcarboxylicpropanamide)indium (Me2In(EDPA)), and O2 plasma for application to high-mobility thin film transistors. Self-limiting In2O3 PEALD growth was observed with a saturated growth rate of approximately 0.053 nm/cycle in an ALD temperature window of 90-180 °C. As-deposited In2O3 films showed negligible residual impurity, film densities as high as 6.64-7.16 g/cm3, smooth surface morphology with a root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of approximately 0.2 nm, and semiconducting level carrier concentrations of 1017-1018 cm-3. Ultrathin In2O3 channel-based thin film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated in a coplanar bottom gate structure, and their electrical performances were evaluated. Because of the excellent quality of In2O3 films, superior electronic switching performances were achieved with high field effect mobilities of 28-30 and 16-19 cm2/V·s in the linear and saturation regimes, respectively. Furthermore, the fabricated TFTs showed excellent gate control characteristics in terms of subthreshold swing, hysteresis, and on/off current ratio. The low-temperature PEALD process for high-quality In2O3 films using the developed novel In precursor can be widely used in a variety of applications such as microelectronics, displays, energy devices, and sensors, especially at temperatures compatible with organic substrates.
Keywords: high-mobility thin film transistor; indium oxide; low-temperature plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition; novel indium precursor.