Solution-processed rare-earth thulium oxide with high permittivity for low-voltage transistor and inverters applications

The use of high-permittivity (high-k) thin films as gate dielectrics is essential in the development of low-power electronics. In this work, rare-earth thulium oxide (Tm2O3) thin films were prepared by a facile solution process and annealed at various temperatures from 400 to 700 °C. The evolution of the physical and dielectric properties of Tm2O3 thin film with annealing temperature was investigated. It is demonstrated that the Tm2O3 thin film annealed at 600 °C exhibits the optimal performance, including a low leakage current of 3 × 10−10 A/cm2, a large areal capacitance of 250 nF/cm2 at 100 Hz, and a high permittivity value of 14.2. The Tm2O3 thin film as a gate insulator was integrated into the thin film transistor (TFT) employing In2O3-based semiconducting channels. The In2O3 TFT with 600 °C -annealed Tm2O3 dielectric exhibits the superior performance, with a high Ion/Ioff of 1.65 × 107, a small SS value of 0.2 V/dec, a VTH of +1.8 V, and a mobility of 1.68 cm2/(V·s). Furthermore, an inverter constructed by connecting the TFT with a resistor exhibits full-swing characteristics. This work provides a facile and appealing method for preparing the high-k Tm2O3 thin films as alternative gate dielectrics with the potential for use in low-power electronics and logic circuit applications.