The present invention relates to a semiconductor technology, and more particularly to a metal oxide semiconductor transistor.
An active layer is an important role in a transistor. A metal oxide semiconductor transistor includes a metal oxide semiconductor layer as the active layer. Comparative to an amorphous-silicon thin film transistor including an amorphous-silicon layer as the active layer, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor has higher carrier mobility. Comparative to a low temperature poly-silicon thin film transistor including a low temperature poly-silicon layer as the active layer, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor has a simpler manufacturing process. In addition, the metal oxide semiconductor layer has a better uniformity than the amorphous-silicon layer or the low temperature poly-silicon layer so that the metal oxide semiconductor transistors has a better performance than the amorphous-silicon thin film transistors or the low temperature poly-silicon thin film transistors.
Currently, in order to further improve the performance of the transistor, one method is to increase the carrier mobility of the transistor. Typically, the active layer of the transistor is commonly formed to a polycrystalline structure so as to improve the carrier mobility of the transistor. For example, a poly-silicon transistor utilizing a poly-silicon layer as the active layer has higher carrier mobility. However, the manufacturing process of the poly-silicon transistor is more difficult, and the poor uniformity of forming the poly-silicon layer will affect the performance of the transistor. In addition, in order to further improve the performance of the transistor, another method is to change a material composition of the active layer. However, it is difficult to develop a new material, which is not benefit for speeding up the performance improvement of the transistor.
Therefore, the present invention provides a metal oxide semiconductor transistor with high carrier mobility.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a metal oxide semiconductor transistor including a gate, a metal oxide active layer, a gate insulating layer, a source, and a drain. The metal oxide active layer has a first surface and a second surface on two opposite sides of the metal oxide active layer, and the first surface faces to the gate. The gate insulating layer is disposed between the gate and the metal oxide active layer. The source and the drain are respectively connected to the metal oxide active layer. The second surface of the metal oxide active layer defines a mobility enhancing region between the source and the drain. An oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is less than an oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer in a region outside the mobility enhancing region.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor further includes the mobility enhancing layer disposed on the second surface of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region. The material of the mobility enhancing layer includes a chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen. Thus, the chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen in the material of the mobility enhancing layer can react with the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer. As a result, a portion of the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is lost. In another embodiment, the oxygen loss treatment is directly applied to the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region by the mobility enhancing medium so that a portion of the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is lost. The oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is decreased so that the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer is increased, thereby improving the performance of the metal oxide semiconductor transistor.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
In the present embodiment, the gate 110 is disposed on a surface of the substrate 101, and the gate insulating layer 120 is disposed on the substrate 101 and covers the gate 110. The metal oxide active layer 130 is disposed on the gate insulating layer 120 and is located right above the gate 110. The metal oxide active layer 130 is made of, for example, indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (In—Ga—Zn—O). The metal oxide active layer 130 has a first surface 132 and a second surface 134 on two opposite sides of the metal oxide active layer 130. The first surface 132 of the metal oxide active layer 130 faces to the gate 110 and is contacted with the gate insulating layer 120. In other words, the gate insulating layer 120 is disposed between the gate 110 and the metal oxide active layer 130. The source 142 and the drain 144 are respectively connected to the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130. A portion of the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 between the source 142 and the drain 144 is exposed so as to define a mobility enhancing region 136. The mobility enhancing layer 150 is disposed between the source 142 and the drain 144, located in the mobility enhancing region 136, and is contacted with the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130. It is noted that, the mobility enhancing layer 150 is not contacted with the source 142 and the drain 144. In the present embodiment, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 100 further includes an insulated protecting layer 160. The insulated protecting layer 160 covers the source 142, the drain 144 and a portion of the metal oxide active layer 130, and is filled into a gap between the mobility enhancing layer 150 and the source 142 and a gap between the mobility enhancing layer 150 and the drain 144. Thus, the mobility enhancing layer 150, the source 142, and the drain 144 are spatially separated by the insulated protecting layer 160. The insulated protecting layer 160 further has an opening 162 exposing the mobility enhancing region 136. The mobility enhancing layer 150 is connected to the mobility enhancing region 136 through the opening 162. It is noted that, because the mobility enhancing layer 150 is not contacted with the source 142 and the drain 144, a leakage current of the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 100 can be reduced.
In addition, after the metal oxide active layer 130 is formed, a protecting layer (not shown) can be disposed on the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130. The protecting layer can prevent the metal oxide active layer 130 from being etched in the subsequent etch processes of forming the source 142, the drain 144 and the mobility enhancing layer 150. Thus, the protecting layer can serve as an etch stop layer to protect the metal oxide active layer 130. It is noted that, a portion of the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 (i.e., at least the mobility enhancing region 136) should be exposed from the protecting layer. Thus, the mobility enhancing layer 150 can be disposed in the mobility enhancing region 136 of the metal oxide active layer 130 and be contacted with the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130.
The mobility enhancing layer 150 can increase the carrier density of the metal oxide active layer 130 or reduce the subgap density of states (DOS) in the tail state, thereby increasing the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 130. In detail, a material of the mobility enhancing layer 150 includes a chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen. When depositing the mobility enhancing layer 150 on the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136, the chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen will react with and bond with oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer 130. Thus, a portion of the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is lost so that an oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is reduced and is less than an oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the region outside the mobility enhancing region 136. As a result, the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 130 is increased. For example, when the metal oxide active layer 130 includes an amorphous metal oxide semiconductor material, during forming the mobility enhancing layer 150, a reaction equation is M+AMOS→MOx+AMS. M represents the chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen. AMOS represents the amorphous metal oxide semiconductor material. MOx represents a compound formed by bonding oxygen in the amorphous metal oxide semiconductor material with the chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen. AMS represents an amorphous metal oxide semiconductor material whose a portion of the oxygen is lost.
In the present embodiment, the material of the mobility enhancing layer 150 can include an inorganic material capable of bonding with oxygen. The inorganic material can be metal, metal oxide or a composite of metal and metal oxide. The metal can be selected from a group consisting of calcium, lithium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, cesium, molybdenum and silver. The metal oxide can be selected from a group consisting of calcium oxide, lithium oxide, potassium oxide, magnesium oxide, cesium oxide, iron oxide, molybdenum oxide and other metal oxide compound capable of being oxidized to form a highest valence metal oxide compound (e.g., AlO can be oxidized to Al2O3). For example, the mobility enhancing layer 150 includes calcium that has a work function of 2.7 ev and can be oxidized to calcium oxide. Due to depositing calcium on the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136, a portion of the oxygen of the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is lost. The reaction equation is 2Ca+O2→2CaO. Because the oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is reduced, the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 130 is increased. For example, in the present embodiment, due to the mobility enhancing layer 150 including calcium, the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 130 is increased from 10 cm2V−1 s−1 to 80 cm2V−1 s−1. In addition, the material of the mobility enhancing layer 150 can be other solid materials. For example, the material of the mobility enhancing layer 150 can include an ionic compound capable of bonding with oxygen. The ionic compound is, for example, lithium aluminum hydride. The material of the mobility enhancing layer 150 can also include a covalent compound capable of bonding with oxygen. The covalent compound is, but not limited to, silicon, carbon, and silicon oxide. In summary, the mobility enhancing layer 150 should include the chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen.
As mentioned above, when the material of the mobility enhancing layer 150 is the solid material capable of bonding with oxygen, the mobility enhancing layer 150 can be formed on the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136. That is, the mobility enhancing layer 150 is a physical layer structure covering the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136. According to the above principle, in other embodiments, an oxygen loss treatment can be directly applied to the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 by a mobility enhancing medium capable of bonding with oxygen. The mobility enhancing medium can be a liquid material capable of bonding with oxygen or a gaseous material capable of bonding with oxygen. Thus, a portion of the oxygen of the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is lost so that the oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is reduced, thereby increasing the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 130.
Additionally, it is noted that, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 100b in the third embodiment, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 100c in the fourth embodiment, and the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 100d in the fifth embodiment can exclude the mobility enhancing layer 150. As described in the second embodiment, in other embodiments, the oxygen loss treatment can be directly applied to the second surface 134 of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 by the mobility enhancing medium capable of bonding with oxygen. The mobility enhancing medium can be a liquid material capable of bonding with oxygen or a gaseous material capable of bonding with oxygen. Thus, a portion of the oxygen of the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is lost so that the oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer 130 in the mobility enhancing region 136 is reduced, thereby increasing the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 130.
In the present embodiment, the mobility enhancing layer 250 is disposed on a surface of the substrate 201. The metal oxide active layer 130 is disposed on the substrate 201 and covers the mobility enhancing layer 250. The metal oxide active layer 230 has a first surface 232 and a second surface 234 on two opposite sides of the metal oxide active layer 230. The mobility enhancing layer 250 is contacted with the second surface 234 of the metal oxide active layer 230 so as to define a mobility enhancing region 236 on the second surface 234 of the metal oxide active layer 230. The source 242 and the drain 244 are disposed on the substrate 201 and are respectively connected to the second surface 234 of the metal oxide active layer 230. The mobility enhancing layer 250 is located between the source 242 and the drain 244. It is noted that, the mobility enhancing layer 250 is not contacted with the source 242 and the drain 244. In the present embodiment, the metal oxide active layer 230 having a suitable configuration is filled into a gap between the mobility enhancing layer 250 and the source 242, and a gap between the mobility enhancing layer 250 and the drain 244. Thus, the mobility enhancing layer 250, the source 242 and the drain 244 are spatially separated by the metal oxide active layer 230. The gate insulating layer 220 is disposed on the metal oxide active layer 230, the source 242 and the drain 244. The gate 210 is disposed on the gate insulating layer 220. In other words, the gate insulating layer 220 is located between the gate 210 and the metal oxide active layer 230. The first surface 232 of the metal oxide active layer 230 faces to the gate 210. In the present embodiment, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 200 further includes an insulated protecting layer 260. The insulated protecting layer 260 is disposed on the gate 210 so as to cover the gate 210.
A material of the mobility enhancing layer 250 the metal oxide semiconductor transistor 200/200a/200b/200c is identical to the mobility enhancing layer 150 in aforesaid embodiments. The material of the mobility enhancing layer 250 can be a solid material capable of bonding with oxygen. In a process of depositing the metal oxide active layer 230, a portion of the metal oxide active layer 230 in the mobility enhancing region 236 is contacted with the mobility enhancing layer 250. The oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the portion of the metal oxide active layer 230 in the mobility enhancing region 236 is lost. Thus, the oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer 230 in the mobility enhancing region 236 is reduced, thereby increasing the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer 230.
In summary, in one embodiment of the present invention, the metal oxide semiconductor transistor includes the metal oxide active layer. The metal oxide active layer has the first surface and the second surface on two opposite sides thereof, and the first surface faces to the gate. The metal oxide semiconductor transistor further includes the mobility enhancing layer disposed on the second surface of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region. The material of the mobility enhancing layer includes a chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen. Thus, the chemical composition capable of bonding with oxygen in the material of the mobility enhancing layer can react with the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer. As a result, a portion of the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is lost. In another embodiment, the oxygen loss treatment is directly applied to the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region by a mobility enhancing medium so that a portion of the oxygen in the metal oxide compound of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is lost. The oxygen content of the metal oxide active layer in the mobility enhancing region is decreased so that the carrier mobility of the metal oxide active layer is increased, thereby improving the performance of the metal oxide semiconductor transistor.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
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