Anodic Oxidation of Nitrogen-Added Al-Based Alloys for Thin-Film Transistors

ABSTRACTNovel anodized films of nitrogen-added aluminum-based alloys were proposed for use in the fabrication of gate insulators for thin-film transistors, and the effect of nitrogen addition on the anodized aluminum-based alloys was investigated. Gadolinium and neodymium were employed as alternative alloy components. The film thickness, the dielectric constant, and the roughness average of the anodized films decreased as the nitrogen content increased, and the nitrogen content was required to be lower than 20 at.%. The most improved values of the breakdown electric fields of anodized aluminum-gadolinium and aluminum-neodymium alloy were 10.1 MV/cm with 6.0 at.% nitrogen content and 9.9 MV/cm with 4.0 at.% nitrogen content, respectively. The leakage currents of the anodized films under a negative bias, which could not be suppressed by high-temperature annealing, were adequately suppressed by nitrogen addition, especially in anodized aluminum-gadolinium alloy. The current leakage of the anodized aluminum-gadolinium alloy with 6.0 at.% nitrogen content became -8E-13 A at -10 V and 150°C. This value is nearly equal to that of chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) films.