IGZO thin-film transistors with tunneling contacts: towards power efficient display

We report the fabrication and characterization of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) tunneling thin-film transistors. Both the IGZO channel and an Al2O3 tunneling barrier layer were deposited using the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method. Compared with a conventional device, our device exhibited rapid saturation at a much smaller drain bias. Interestingly, we observed two different current saturation mechanisms within a single device, which can be explained as competition between the depletion envelope near the source electrode and channel depletion near the drain electrode. This work represents an industry-friendly method for implementing the tunnel-contact approach in the display industry.