Challenges for Commercially viable Transparent Conductive Oxide Layers Arkema Inc. 900 First Ave., King of Prussia, PA 19406 R. Y. Korotkov, L. Fang, P. Ricou, M. Bluhm, J. Coffey, C. Polsz and G. Silverman Philips Lighting GmbH, Philipstrasse 8, Aachen, Germany 52086 M. Ruske, R, B. Krogmann and H. Schwab Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, WA USA A. B. Padmaperuma, and D. J. Gaspar This work is partially supported by the Department of Energy Solid State Lighting, Grant No DE-PS26-07NT43131-05.
Presentation Overview: Introduction targets Homogeneity of DZO films Methodology Electrical properties Depth profiling of the DZO Optical properties Roughness Light Out-coupling Undercoat Patterned glass substrate High-Low-High OLED devices Conclusions
Introduction - targets Properties Target ITO TOF ZnO:Dopant ρ (Ω cm x10-4 ) 2-6.0 2-3 3.5-5 2.0-3 Etch Resolution (micron) 5 MN poor MN Surface roughness (nm RMS) 2-10 1-5 4-20 3-6 Maximum peak to valley (Z max, nm) 30-40 30 >50 30-60 ϕ B (ev) 4.5-5 4.7 4.9 4.3-5.1 Transmittance (%) 80-90 > 85 > 80 85-92 Advantages of doped ZnO Indium-free Superior Economics US Sustainability not a precious metal dependent on China export policy High transmission No blue absorption relative to Indium based TCOs
Introduction - Comparison of common TCOs 4.5E-04 Resistivities, Ohm cm 4.0E-04 3.5E-04 3.0E-04 2.5E-04 2.0E-04 1.5E-04 1.0E-04 In2O3:Snpld In2O3:Snsputter Material SnO2:F ZnO:D1 ZnO:D2 Resistivities of 1.38 to 3.60 x 10-4 Ωcm are feasible Doped ZnO and ITO showed the lowest resistivity
Homogeneity of DZO - Methodology Thickness, nm Sheet resistance, Ω/sq Resistivity, Ωcm RMS roughness, nm Z max, nm a b c Mobility Electron concentration Effective mass Spectroscopic ellipsometer 2D mapping of Sheet resistance Thickness Electron concentration Electron mobility Effective mass RMS Z max Automated 4-point probe
Electrical Properties - Electron concentration & mobility Electron concentration, cm -3 2.2E+21 2.0E+21 1.8E+21 1.6E+21 1.4E+21 1.2E+21 1.0E+21 8.0E+20 6.0E+20 4.0E+20 2.0E+20 ITO n(ito-sput-anneal1) n(ito-sput-anneal2) n(ito-cvd) n(ito-pld) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Mobility, cm 2 /Vs Electron concentration, cm -3 1.6E+21 1.4E+21 1.2E+21 1.0E+21 8.0E+20 6.0E+20 4.0E+20 2.0E+20 ZnO 0 10 20 30 40 Mobility, cm 2 /Vs ITO electrical properties strongly depend on annealing conditions As sputtered [Electron] and mobility of 6x10 20 cm -3 and 15 cm 2 /Vs [Electron] increases to 2x10 21 cm -3 with annealing Thick layers of DZO have similar electrical properties Unintentially doped ZnO mobility = 50-55 cm 2 /Vs Doping reduces mobility to 12-30 cm 2 /Vs Electron concentration varies from 0.6 to 1.6 x 10 21 cm -3
Electrical Properties - Resistivity 0.00045 Resistivity, Ohm cm 0.0004 0.00035 0.0003 0.00025 0.0002 0.00015 D 1 ZO/NL/glass D 1 ZO/glass D 2 ZO/glass 0 200 400 600 800 1000 Thickness, nm Resistivity homogeneity ± 3 % over 6 x 6 inch surface. Temperature gradients likely responsible for higher resistivity at edges Lab coater uses a heating block versus even heat distributed oven APCVD deposited DZO resistivity correlates with film thickness This correlation can be minimized by introduction of nucleation layer This correlation can also be minimized by dopant type
Depth Profiling DZO texture coefficients Texture coefficients, arb. units TC(002)(D2) TC(102) TC(103)(D2) TC(203) 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 D 1 ZO 100 300 500 Thickness, nm Grazing angle X-ray intensities were corrected for thickness: The texture coefficient is Texture coefficients, arb units 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 TC( hkl) TC(002)(D2) TC(002)(D1) 0 100 300 500 Thickness, nm = I / I hkl c hkl I N c 0 / hkl I hkl 0 TC(103)(D2) TC(103)(D1) I hkl c hkl I m = µ 1 exp ρ t ρ (002) Orientation is predominant at the glass/film interface (103) Becomes predominant orientation after 300 nm Crystallinity of D 1 ZO and D 2 ZO is similar Texture coefficients, arb. units TC(002)(D1) TC(101) TC(102) TC(103)(D1) TC(112) TC(203) 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001 D 2 ZO 100 300 500 Thickness, nm 1 sin + α sin 1 ( 2θ α )
Depth Profiling - Crystallinity of doped ZnO by SAD 100 nm 100 nm Glass interface Glass interface 250 nm 250 nm 500 nm 500 nm (002) (103) (102) (101) The cross-section SAD show mostly polycrystalline orientation up to 500 nm The grains are rotated by 10-15 degrees with respect to each other (002), (103), (102) and (101) are found around 500 nm
Depth Profiling - Pole figures for the bulk doped ZnO D 1 ZO(002) D 1 ZO(103) Intensity, arb. units Alpha, degrees Intensity, arb. units Alpha, degrees Intensity, arb. units D 2 ZO(002) Intensity, arb. units D 2 ZO (103) Alpha, degrees Orientation factors (002) for D 1 ZO = 0.856; D 2 ZO = 0.872 (103) is 33±2 off the sample normal (002) This angle corresponds to the 31.66 existing between (002) and (103) The broad (103) signal increases towards the surface normal As film thickness increases (103) aligns itself to the normal Alpha, degrees
Depth Profiling - Crystalline sizes D 1 ZO Polish, # 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 (002), nm D 2 ZO 67 74 69 72 73 69 63 (103), nm D 2 ZO 29 32 30 30 30 29 29 Thickness, nm 510 406 380 340 250 196 130 Polish 0 1 2 3 4 (002), nm D 1 ZO 33 30 32 27 29 (103), nm D 1 ZO 17 16 15 14 14 Thickness, nm 527 453 407 330 165 D 1 ZO has 2x smaller grain size relative to D 2 ZO Grain size decreases towards substrate interface Slope of mobility increase toward air:tco interface D 1 ZO The average grain size was calculated from grazing angle x-ray patterns (FWHM were corrected for IB): τ = Kλ β cosθ
Current probe XY-profiles (ITO) topography RMS=1.9 nm 19 nm ITO RMS=1.8 nm 12 nm RMS=1.7 nm ITO 11 nm 1.0µm 400nm 200nm 0.0 nm 0.0 nm 20 na 22 na 0.0 nm 25 na ZnO ZnO 1.0µm 400nm 200nm Current 0.0 nm 0.0 nm 0.0 nm
Current probe XY-profiles (ZnO) RMS=0.6 nm 4.9 nm RMS=0.47 nm 4.2 nm 1.0µm 0.0 nm 400nm 0.0 nm 10.8 na 12.7 na 1.0µm 0.0 na 400nm 0.0 na
Surface roughness Deposition optimization 50 % improvement HIL and p-doped layer as planarization tool Polishing (below RMS = 1 nm) Deposition of oxides as a planarization tool for DZO RMS, nm 100 Feb 2007 10 Aug, 2007 RMS RMSp RMS082007 2011 rmsito 1 ITO rms022007 10 100 1000 Zmax, nm Target # Z max (nm) Rq (nm) Ra (nm) SR (Ω/sq) TC thickness (nm) ϕ (ev) DZO With MO TC 1a 278.8 22.7 16.8 5-8 None 5.0 2a 177.7 24.1 17.4 5-8 None 5.0 1b 64.7 9.1 7.4 5-8 10-20 -- 2b 55 8.3 6.8 5-8 10-20 --
Surface Roughness - OLED Process Testing 1. 504 hr stability test 60 rh%:80 o C both on substrate & metalized D 1 ZnO passes in covered areas, but exposed regions have electrical deterioration not a knock out D 2 ZnO passes all around, but is more expensive 2. Process compatibility ZnO substrates Without cleaning Acetone & propanol cleaning (each 5 min. ultrasonic bath) Cleaned and fully processed substrate Polished TCO and cleaned substrate rms 3.6-3.8 nm 3.0-3.3 nm 2.2-2.4 nm 1.4 nm As is Cleaning done on- & off-line Solvent and surfactant compatibility identified Surface roughness decreased on cleaning No evidence of etching - cleaning surface particles Patterning process identified Solvent cleaned
Optical properties 95 90 18-20 Ω/sq 8-10 Ω/sq D:ZnO 90 80 ITO DZO T (470nm), % 85 80 75 15 Ω/sq Transmittance, % 70 60 50 40 30 70 20 65 100 300 500 700 Film Thickness, nm 10 300 800 1300 1800 2300 wavelength, nm Maximum transmittance of doped ZnO (150 nm) plus glass substrate was 91 % Transmittance of DZO was slightly better than ITO for the similar thickness thin films (< 200 nm)
Optical properties - N and k as a function of doping n and k 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 n=8x10 20 cm -3 n=1.1x10 21 cm -3 n=9.7x10 20 cm -3 DZO n, k 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 n=1.17x10 21 cm -3 n=1.57x10 21 cm -3 n=5.6x10 20 cm -3 ITO 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0 400 900 1400 wavelength, nm 0 400 900 1400 wavelength, nm Dispersion curves for both ZnO and ITO are dependent on doping level Dispersion curves were utilized in development of the undercoat
Light Out-coupling - Refractive index matching 95 90 21 19 17 ZnO/glass T, % 85 80 75 ZnO/glass R, % 15 13 11 9 7 70 350 450 550 650 wavelength, nm 5 300 500 700 wavelength, nm Undercoat technology using APCVD grown layers was developed Peak reflected interference fringe for DZO 20% to 13-14% Flat transmittance curves with suppressed Fabry-Perrot interference are obtained using undercoats
Light Out-coupling Approach 1 Undercoat for Optical Extraction Optical UC Improves transmission 2-5% Improves EQE 9-11% 6 X6 Substrates ~350 nm no undercoat 6 x6 substrate ~350 nm with undercoat 95 Sample HIL, nm V EQE, % Change, % 90 DZO DZO/UC DZO DZO/UC ITO ITO HIL 1 (30 nm) HIL 1 (30 nm) HIL 2 (35 nm) HIL 2 (35nm) HIL 1 (30 nm) HIL 2 (35 nm) 3.8 3.8 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.4 12.0 13.4 12.1 13.2 14.8 15.2-11.6-9.1 - - Transmittance, % 85 80 75 70 65 ryk9-1t Effect of different ryk9-2t (55nm) undercoat ryk9-3t (65nm) thickness ryk9-4t (75nm) 350 450 550 650 wavelength, nm * - Blue OLEDs prepared and analyzed at PNNL
Light Out-coupling - Approach 2 GZO on patterned glass substrates Substrate backside patterned only Substrate front side patterned only 94 ryk19-1t ryk19-2t ryk19-3t 90 80 ryk22-4t ryk22-5t 92 70 ryk22-1t T, % 90 88 86 untreated Transmittance, % 60 50 40 30 84 20 82 10 80 300 500 700 900 wavelength, nm 0 300 800 1300 untreated 1800 2300 wavelength, nm Average 3 % improvement in overall transmission was observed for patterned substrate backside An overall flat transmittance curve was observed for the patterned front side of the substrate
Light Out-coupling Approach 3 Light extraction High-low-high RI (Nb 2 O 5 /SiO 2 /Nb 2 O 5 /DZO) Enhancement emission amplitude of 2.6x (theory) and 2.1x (experimental) at 475 nm Effect falls off at >10 0 and very tight process window Color shift to deeper Blue OLED Devices and analyses done at Philips Lighting
OLED Devices- 5x5 mm 2 device made on 6 substrates Results comparable to ITO for small pixel size (5mm x 5mm) OLED Devices and analyses done at Philips Lighting
OLED Devices - scale-up to 30x40 mm 2 Results comparable with ITO for larger OLED design OLED Devices and analyses done at Philips Lighting
OLED Devices - 152x152 mm 2 full substrate ITO DZO Processing is simplified in serial construction More work is needed for Grid construction Demonstrate DZO can be used as TCO OLED Devices and analyses done at Philips Lighting
Conclusions APCVD prepared doped ZnO is a viable commercial alternative to ITO Demonstrated 5x5, 30x40 and 152x152 mm 2 devices Dopants and process conditions are critical to homogeneity and optoelectronic properties Projected cost for DZO are consistent with DOE SSL 5-year plan targets Trans. (%) Ion Migration SR W f (ev) RMS (Z max ) Acid resistance DZO > 90% No 17-20 4.8-5.0 4(30) No ITO > 85% Yes 17-20 4.6-5.0 2(20) Yes Disclaimer; The statements, technical information and recommendations contained herein are believed to be accurate as of the date hereof. Since the conditions and methods of use of the information referred to herein are beyond our control, Arkema expressly disclaims any and all liability as to any results obtained or arising from any reliance on such information; NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR ANY OTHER WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IS MADE CONCERNING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN. The user should thoroughly test any application before commercialization. Nothing contained herein constitutes a license to practice under any patent and it should not be construed as an inducement to infringe any patent, and the user is advised to take appropriate steps to be sure that any proposed action will not result in patent infringement. 2010 Arkema Inc