ATOMIC-LAYER-DEPOSITED INDIUM OXIDE TRANSISTORS FOR BACK-END-OF-LINE MONOLITHIC 3D INTEGRATION

As silicon (Si) technology advances to 3 nm node and beyond, vertically stacking in 3D is considered as the primary choice to increase the density of transistors per unit area for better chip performance. Therefore, looking for new materials capable of replacing Si in back-end-of-line (BEOL) compatible monolithic 3D (M3D) integration has become one of the most important topics in the current field of electronic devices. Recent developed atomic layer deposition (ALD) deposited indium oxide (In₂O₃) field-effect transistors (FETs) have realized excellent electrical performance including field effect mobility over 100 cm²/V·s, on/off ratio up to 10¹⁷ and on-state current (I_ON) over 2.5 mA/μm in nanometer thin In₂O₃ FETs, providing promising prospect for next generation electronics. In this thesis, four main In₂O₃ related topics are discussed to examine the practicality of ALD In₂O₃ as channel material in BEOL compatible applications. First, the bias stability of planar In₂O₃ transistors and the effect of tin doping are studied. Second, gate-all-around (GAA) In₂O₃ FETs are implemented to improve I_ON up to record high 20 mA/μm, and its reliability is systematically measured and analyzed. Third, multilayer In₂O₃ FETs are constructed to investigate the possibility of vertical stacking. Last, vertical full oxide transistors with In₂O₃ gate are demonstrated to prove the feasibility of potential 3D integration.