Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a blue-silvery appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. In some respects zinc is chemically similar to magnesium: both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state (+2), and the Zn²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions are of similar size. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earth's crust and has five stable isotopes. The most common zinc ore is sphalerite (zinc blende), a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest workable lodes are in Australia, Asia, and the United States. Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity (electrowinning).
A transistor is provided, which is entirely and partially transparent by the use of a transparent channel layer made of zincoxide or the like. A channel layer 11 formed of a transparent semiconductor such as zincoxide ZnO. A transparent electrode is used for all of a source 12, a drain 13 and a gate 14, or a part of them. As the transparent electrode, a transparent conductive material such as conductive ZnO doped with, for example, group III elements is used. As a gate insulating layer 15, a transparent insulative material such as insulative ZnO doped with elements capable of taking a valence of one as a valence number or group V elements is used. If a substrate 16 must be transparent, for example, glass, sapphire, plastic or the like can be used as a transparent material.
The present invention relates to a process of making a zinc-oxide-based thin film semiconductor, for use in a transistor, comprising thin film deposition onto a substrate comprising providing a plurality of gaseous materials comprising at least first, second, and third gaseous materials, wherein the first gaseous material is a zinc-containing volatile material and the second gaseous material is reactive therewith such that when one of the first or second gaseous materials are on the surface of the substrate the other of the first or second gaseous materials will react to deposit a layer of material on the substrate and wherein the third gaseous material is inert with respect to reacting with the first or second gaseous materials.
A semiconductor device includes an oxidesemiconductor thin film layer primarily including zincoxide having at least one orientation other than (002) orientation. The zincoxide may have a mixed orientation including (002) orientation and (101) orientation. Alternatively, the zinc oxide may have a mixed orientation including (100) orientation and (101) orientation.
A zincoxide (ZnO) field effecttransistor exhibits large input amplitude by using a gate insulating layer. A channel layer and the gate insulating layer are sequentially laminated on a substrate. A gate electrode is formed on the gate insulating layer. A source contact and a drain contact are disposed at the both sides of the gate contact and are electrically connected to the channel layer via openings. The channel layer is formed from n-type ZnO. The gate insulating layer is made from aluminum nitride / aluminum gallium nitride (AlN / AlGaN) or magnesiumzincoxide (MgZnO), which exhibits excellent insulation characteristics, thus increasing the Schottky barrier and achieving large input amplitude. If the FET is operated in the enhancement mode, it is operable in a manner similar to a siliconmetaloxidesemiconductorfield effecttransistor (Si-MOS-type FET), resulting in the formation of an inversion layer.