SF 6 plasma treatment effects on InSnZnO dual-gate TFT performance and stability

Abstract Hydrogen sensitivity in indium–tin–zinc–oxide (ITZO) dual gate (DG) thin-film transistors (TFTs) has fundamentally limited their commercial viability despite superior electron mobility. This work addresses this challenge through systematic optimization of SF 6 plasma treatment, demonstrating its effectiveness in suppressing hydrogen diffusion-induced degradation. Comprehensive analysis reveals that increased SF 6 plasma power significantly reduces oxygen vacancy and hydrogen content in ITZO channels. Consequently, TFT performance shows critical improvements: threshold voltage shifts positively from −4.25 V to 0.32 V, subthreshold swing tightens from 0.38 V/dec to 0.20 V/dec, and field-effect mobility undergoes a controlled reduction (38.25 cm 2 /V·s to 32.53 cm 2 /V·s). Most crucially, electrical stability under various stress conditions shows dramatic enhancement: the threshold voltage shift for the positive bias temperature stress test decreased from −8.58 V to −2.36 V, negative bias temperature stress test decreased from −0.79 V to −0.07 V, which is almost negligible, and negative bias illumination stress test decreased from −4.76 V to −0.68 V. These findings establish SF 6 plasma power engineering as a manufacturable pathway to simultaneously achieve high performance and unprecedented operational stability in ITZO DG TFTs for next-generation displays.