Independent chemical/physical role of combustive exothermic heat in solution-processed metal oxide semiconductors for thin-film transistors

The development of high performance, solution-processed metal-oxide semiconductors has been of paramount interest in various fields of electronic applications. Among the variety of methodologies for synthesizing solution-processed precursor solutions, the combustion chemistry reaction, which involves an internal exothermic heat reaction, has drawn a tremendous amount of attraction as one of the most viable chemical approaches. In this paper, we report the synthesis of new zinc-tin oxide (ZTO) precursor solutions that can be used to independently adjust the amount of combustive exothermic heat. Through comparative analyses based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the independent influence of combustive heat is elucidated in indium-free, solution-processed oxide semiconductors, in conjunction with an interpretation of observed variations in the device performance.