Fabrication of oxide-gate thin-film transistors using PECVD/PLD multichamber system

We developed a new multichamber system which combines a pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) and a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with shadow masks installed to define the film deposition area on a substrate. In order to verify thecapability of this PLD/PECVD multichamber system, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film transistors (TFTs) using MgO and Al2O₃ gate dielectrics have been fabricated on glass/indium-tin-oxide (ITO) substrates. The MgO and Al2O₃ films fabricated on fused silica substrates by PLD exhibited transparency higher than 90% and a low leakage current (1 nA/cm² at 1 MV/cm). After depositions of the MgO or Al2O₃ film on the glass/ITO, thesample was transferred to the PECVD chamber for a-Si:H deposition without exposing them to the air. TFTs thus fabricated exhibited such high characteristics as the threshold voltage (VTH) as low as 0.35 V and gate bias dependence of source±drain current exceeding five orders of magnitude. Theresults indicate a high quality a-Si:H/oxide interface and that heterojunction devices can be produced by using the PLD/PECVD multichamber system.