Eco-friendly,low-temperature solution production of oxide thin films for high-performance transistors via infrared irradiation of chloride precursors

In this paper, we present the infrared (IR) irradiation of chloride precursors as a promising method for the eco-friendly, low-temperature solution fabrication of oxide film devices, which typically require thermal annealing at temperature over 450?°C. By the IR irradiation of AlCl₃ precursor, high-quality Al₂O₃ dielectric films were prepared at a low temperature of 230?°C. The obtained Al₂O₃ dielectric layers had high dielectric properties, such as a high capacitance of 158?nF/cm² and a small leakage current of 5.4?×?10^?8 A/cm². Various structure characterizations confirmed the high quality of Al₂O₃ films produced by IR irradiation. Moreover, full low-temperature solution-produced thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated through the IR irradiation of chloride precursors. The In₂O₃ TFTs achieved a high mobility of 33.6 cm²V^?1s^?1?at a small operation voltage of 4?V. Compared with the common thermal annealing method, IR irradiation results in better precursor conversion, higher oxygen lattice, and fewer oxygen defects. These results suggest that IR irradiation can serve as a new approach for the eco-friendly, low-temperature solution production of various oxide thin films and devices. The method is also very promising for the low-energy production of functional materials and devices.