Electrostatic discharge robustness of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors

The thin-film-transistor (TFT) technology has attracted significant attention in account of the possibility to manufacture transistors on large and flexible substrates, at low processing temperatures and at a low cost. Next to the well-established amorphous silicon TFT technology used mostly for displays, the amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (IGZO) and Indium-Tin-Zinc-Oxide (ITZO) materials offer a higher current conductivity and thus a better performance. This makes them interesting candidates for TFT integrated circuits also beyond displays. However, integrated circuits can be easily damaged by electrostatic discharges (ESD) and require integrated protection solutions. To find possible vulnerabilities and solutions, this paper analyzes ESD robustness of two IGZO and one ITZO TFT device architecture.