Effects of Post-UV/Ozone Treatment on Electrical Characteristics of Solution-Processed Copper Oxide Thin-Film...

To realize oxide semiconductor-based complementary circuits and better transparent display applications, the electrical properties of p-type oxide semiconductors and the performance improvement of p-type oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) are required. In this study, we report the effects of post-UV/ozone (O₃) treatment on the structural and electrical characteristics of copper oxide (CuO) semiconductor films and the TFT performance. The CuO semiconductor films were fabricated using copper (II) acetate hydrate as a precursor material to solution processing and the UV/O₃ treatment was performed as a post-treatment after the CuO film was fabricated. During the post-UV/O₃ treatment for up to 13 min, the solution-processed CuO films exhibited no meaningful change in the surface morphology. On the other hand, analysis of the Raman and X-ray photoemission spectra of solution-processed CuO films revealed that the post-UV/O₃ treatment induced compressive stress in the film and increased the composition concentration of Cu-O lattice bonding. In the post-UV/O₃-treated CuO semiconductor layer, the Hall mobility increased significantly to approximately 280 cm² V^-1 s^-1, and the conductivity increased to approximately 4.57 × 10^-2 Ω^-1 cm^-1. Post-UV/O₃-treated CuO TFTs also showed improved electrical properties compared to those of untreated CuO TFTs. The field-effect mobility of the post-UV/O₃-treated CuO TFT increased to approximately 6.61 × 10^-3 cm^-2 V^-1 s^-1, and the on-off current ratio increased to approximately 3.51 × 10³. These improvements in the electrical characteristics of CuO films and CuO TFTs can be understood through the suppression of weak bonding and structural defects between Cu and O bonds after post-UV/O₃ treatment. The result demonstrates that the post-UV/O₃ treatment can be a viable method to improve the performance of p-type oxide TFTs.