Effects of ultraviolet photon irradiation and subsequent thermal treatments on solution-processed amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin films

Effects of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) photons and thermal treatments on solution-processed amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) films were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. As a result, oxygen vacancies obviously become more abundant in the films sintered at 250 or 300 °C by the exposure to 7.21 eV photons and less abundant by the subsequent thermal treatment at 250 °C in air. The drain current also clearly becomes smaller in a thin film transistor fabricated using the IGZO film in a manner opposite to the abundance of oxygen vacancies. That is, the drain current becomes smaller by the UV irradiation and returns to the original high value by the subsequent thermal treatment. This indicates that oxygen vacancies act as trapping centers or scattering centers of electrons. In addition, the reversible change of the drain current with the cycle of UV irradiation and the thermal treatment opens the possibility of the use of the IGZO films as a UV sensor.