High-Stability IWO Thin-Film Transistors Under Microwave Annealing for Low Thermal Budget Application

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the effects of microwave thermal annealing (MWA) on the electrical performance and stability of Indium-Tungsten-Oxide (IWO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). Under MWA treatment at 600 W, the IWO-TFTs exhibited a subthreshold swing (SS) of 144 mV/dec and a threshold voltage (V _T ) of 0.9 V, demonstrating superior resistance to stress-induced degradation. The TFTs treated with MWA displayed enhanced performance compared to the as-fabricated ones in bias stress stability. As a result, MWA showed significant potential for repairing defects through post-deposition annealing with a reduced thermal budget, thereby presenting a promising application for developing back-end-of-line (BEOL) compatible oxide semiconductor technology.