U.S. patent application number 14/474609 was filed with the patent office on 2014-12-18 for semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same.
The applicant listed for this patent is Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Hideyuki KISHIDA, Akiharu MIYANAGA, Junichiro SAKATA, Masahiro TAKAHASHI, Shunpei YAMAZAKI.
Application Number | 20140367682 14/474609 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43921810 |
Filed Date | 2014-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140367682 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YAMAZAKI; Shunpei ; et
al. |
December 18, 2014 |
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Abstract
An object is to provide a semiconductor device including an
oxide semiconductor with stable electric characteristics can be
provided. An insulating layer having many defects typified by
dangling bonds is formed over an oxide semiconductor layer with an
oxygen-excess mixed region or an oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer interposed therebetween, whereby impurities in the oxide
semiconductor layer, such as hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom
or a compound including a hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O), are
moved through the oxygen-excess mixed region or oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer and diffused into the insulating layer. Thus, the
impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer is
reduced.
Inventors: |
YAMAZAKI; Shunpei;
(Setagaya, JP) ; MIYANAGA; Akiharu; (Hadano,
JP) ; TAKAHASHI; Masahiro; (Atsugi, JP) ;
KISHIDA; Hideyuki; (Atsugi, JP) ; SAKATA;
Junichiro; (Atsugi, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd. |
Atsugi-shi |
|
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
43921810 |
Appl. No.: |
14/474609 |
Filed: |
September 2, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12912196 |
Oct 26, 2010 |
|
|
|
14474609 |
|
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
257/43 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 29/42384 20130101;
H01L 29/518 20130101; H01L 29/78606 20130101; H01L 29/78696
20130101; H01L 27/1225 20130101; H01L 29/7869 20130101; H01L
29/42364 20130101; H01L 29/66969 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
257/43 |
International
Class: |
H01L 29/786 20060101
H01L029/786; H01L 29/423 20060101 H01L029/423; H01L 29/51 20060101
H01L029/51 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 30, 2009 |
JP |
2009-249876 |
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising
the steps of: forming a gate electrode layer over a substrate;
forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;
providing the substrate into a process chamber under reduced
pressure; introducing a sputtering gas from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed while removing moisture remaining in the
process chamber to form an oxide semiconductor layer over the gate
insulating layer; forming a source electrode layer and a drain
electrode layer over the oxide semiconductor layer; forming an
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer over the source electrode
layer, the drain electrode layer, and the oxide semiconductor
layer; forming an insulating layer having defects over the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer by a sputtering method; and
heating the substrate to make an impurity included in the oxide
semiconductor layer move through the oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer and diffuse into the insulating layer having defects.
3. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to
claim 2, wherein the impurity includes at least one of hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, and hydride.
4. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to
claim 2, wherein the process chamber where the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer and the insulating layer having defects are formed
is evacuated with a cryopump to remove remaining moisture.
5. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to
claim 2, further comprising forming a protective insulating layer
over the insulating layer having defects.
6. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising
the steps of: forming a gate electrode layer over a substrate;
forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;
providing the substrate into a process chamber under reduced
pressure; introducing a sputtering gas from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed while removing moisture remaining in the
process chamber to form an oxide semiconductor layer over the gate
insulating layer; forming a source electrode layer and a drain
electrode layer over the oxide semiconductor layer; forming an
insulating layer having defects over the oxide semiconductor layer
by a sputtering method, whereby forming an oxygen-excess mixed
region provided at an interface between the oxide semiconductor
layer and the insulating layer; and heating the substrate to make
an impurity included in the oxide semiconductor layer move through
the oxygen-excess mixed region and diffuse into the insulating
layer having defects.
7. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to
claims 6, wherein the impurity includes at least one of hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, and hydride.
8. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to
claim 6, wherein the process chamber where the insulating layer
having defects are formed is evacuated with a cryopump to remove
remaining moisture.
9. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to
claim 6, further comprising the step of forming a protective
insulating layer over the insulating layer having defects.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor device
using an oxide semiconductor and a manufacturing method
thereof.
[0002] Note that the semiconductor device in this specification
refers to all the devices which can operate by using semiconductor
characteristics, and an electro-optical device, a semiconductor
circuit, and an electronic device are all semiconductor
devices.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] A technique of forming a thin film transistor (TFT) by using
a thin semiconductor film that is formed over a substrate having an
insulating surface has attracted attention. A thin film transistor
is used for a display device typified by a liquid crystal
television. Besides a silicon-based semiconductor material which is
known as a material for a semiconductor thin film applicable to a
thin film transistor, an oxide semiconductor has attracted
attention.
[0004] As a material for the oxide semiconductor, zinc oxide and a
material containing zinc oxide as its component are known. In
addition, a thin film transistor including an amorphous oxide
(oxide semiconductor) electron carrier concentration of which is
lower than 10.sup.18/cm.sup.3 is disclosed (see Patent Documents 1
to 3).
REFERENCE
[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Patent Application
No. 2006-165527 [0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published
Patent Application No. 2006-165528 [0007] [Patent Document 1]
Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2006-165529
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
[0008] However, a deviation from the stoichiometric composition in
an oxide semiconductor arises in a thin film formation process. For
example, electrical conductivity of an oxide semiconductor is
changed due to excess and deficiency of oxygen. Further, hydrogen
or moisture that enters the oxide semiconductor thin film during
the formation of the thin film forms an oxygen-hydrogen (O--H) bond
and functions as an electron donor, which is a factor of change in
electrical conductivity. Furthermore, since an O--H is a polar
molecule, it causes variation in characteristics of an active
device such as a thin film transistor formed using an oxide
semiconductor.
[0009] In view of such problems, it is an object of an embodiment
of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device
including an oxide semiconductor with stable electric
characteristics.
[0010] In order to prevent variation in electric characteristics of
the thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer,
impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride (also
referred to as a hydrogen compound) which cause the variation are
removed from the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0011] An insulating layer having many defects typified by dangling
bonds is formed over an oxide semiconductor layer with an
oxygen-excess mixed region or an oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer interposed therebetween, whereby impurities in the oxide
semiconductor layer, such as hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom
or a compound including a hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O), are
moved through the oxygen-excess mixed region or the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer and diffused into the insulating layer
having defects. Thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide
semiconductor layer is reduced.
[0012] Since an insulating layer having many defects has a high
binding energy to hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom or a
compound including a hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O) and these
impurities are stabilized in the insulating layer having many
defects, these impurities can be diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having defects,
whereby these impurities can be removed from the oxide
semiconductor layer.
[0013] Further, the mixed region or the oxide insulating layer,
which is provided between the oxide semiconductor layer and the
insulating layer having defects, includes excess oxygen, and thus
have many oxygen dangling bonds as defects and has high binding
energy to impurities such as hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom
or a compound including a hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O).
Therefore, when the impurities are diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having defects, the
oxygen-excess mixed region or the oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer functions to facilitate the diffusion. On the other hand,
when the impurities which have been removed from the oxide
semiconductor layer and diffused into the insulating layer having
defects move back toward the oxide semiconductor layer, the
oxygen-excess mixed region or the oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer functions as a protective layer (a barrier layer) which is
bound to and stabilizes the impurities so as to prevent the
impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0014] Thus, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen
atom or a compound including a hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O) in
the oxide semiconductor layer are diffused into the oxygen-excess
mixed region or the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer.
[0015] Thus, the oxygen-excess mixed region or the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer removes impurities, such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride (also referred to as a hydrogen
compound) which cause variation, from the oxide semiconductor
layer, and further functions as a barrier layer which prevents the
impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer
having defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer again.
Consequently, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer can be kept low.
[0016] From the above, a thin film transistor including an oxide
semiconductor layer in which impurities such as hydrogen, moisture,
hydroxyl, or hydride (also referred to as a hydrogen compound)
which cause variation are reduced has stable electric
characteristics, and a semiconductor device including the thin film
transistor can realize high reliability.
[0017] The mixed region is a mixed region of materials included in
the oxide semiconductor layer and in the overlying insulating layer
having defects. By providing the mixed region, an interface between
the oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer having
defects is not clearly defined; thus, diffusion of hydrogen from
the oxide semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having
defects is facilitated. For example, when a silicon oxide layer is
used as the insulating layer having defects, the mixed region
includes oxygen, silicon, and at least one of the metal elements
included in the oxide semiconductor layer. As the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer, a silicon oxide layer (SiO.sub.2+x, where x
is preferably equal to or greater than 0 and less than 3) can be
used. The thickness of the mixed region or the oxide insulating
layer may be 0.1 nm to 30 nm (preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm).
[0018] The oxide semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess mixed
region, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer, and the
insulating layer having defects are preferably formed in a
film-formation chamber (a process chamber) in which the impurity
concentration is lowered by evacuation with a capture-type vacuum
pump such as a cryopump. As a capture-type vacuum pump, for
example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is
preferably used. The capture-type vacuum pump functions to reduce
the amount of hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride in the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess mixed region, the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer, and the insulating layer
having defects.
[0019] Each of sputtering gases used in the formation of the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess mixed region, the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer, and the insulating layer
having defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which impurities
such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are reduced to such a
degree that the concentration thereof can be expressed by the unit
ppm or ppb.
[0020] In the thin film transistor disclosed in this specification,
a channel formation region is formed in the oxide semiconductor
layer, in which the hydrogen is set equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.19/cm.sup.3, preferably equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.18/cm.sup.3, and more preferably equal to or less
than 5.times.10.sup.17/cm.sup.3; hydrogen or O--H group is removed;
and the carrier concentration is equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.14/cm.sup.3, preferably equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.12/cm.sup.3.
[0021] The energy gap of the oxide semiconductor is set to be equal
to or greater than 2 eV, preferably equal to or greater than 2.5
eV, more preferably equal to or greater than 3 eV to reduce as much
impurities, such as hydrogen which form donors, as possible, and
the carrier concentration of the oxide semiconductor is set to
equal to or less than 1.times.10.sup.14/cm.sup.3, preferably equal
to or less than 1.times.10.sup.12/cm.sup.3.
[0022] When the thus purified oxide semiconductor is used for a
channel formation region of a thin film transistor, even in the
case where the channel width is 10 mm, the drain current of equal
to or less than 1.times.10.sup.-13 A is obtained at drain voltages
of 1 V and 10 V and gate voltage in the range of -5 V to -20 V.
[0023] An embodiment of the present invention disclosed in this
specification is a semiconductor device including: a gate electrode
layer over a substrate; a gate insulating layer over the gate
electrode layer; an oxide semiconductor layer over the gate
insulating layer; a source electrode layer and a drain electrode
layer over the oxide semiconductor layer; and an insulating layer
having defects which is over the oxide semiconductor layer, the
source electrode layer, and the drain electrode layer, and which is
in contact with part of the oxide semiconductor layer; in which an
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer is provided between the oxide
semiconductor layer and the insulating layer having defects.
[0024] Another embodiment of the present invention disclosed in
this specification is a semiconductor device including: a gate
electrode layer over a substrate; a gate insulating layer over the
gate electrode layer; an oxide semiconductor layer over the gate
insulating layer; a source electrode layer and a drain electrode
layer over the oxide semiconductor layer; and an insulating layer
having defects which is over the source electrode layer, and the
drain electrode layer, and which is in contact with part of the
oxide semiconductor layer; in which an oxygen-excess mixed region
is provided at an interface between the oxide semiconductor layer
and the insulating layer having defects; in which the insulating
layer having defects includes silicon; and in which the
oxygen-excess mixed region includes oxygen, silicon, and at least
one of the metal elements included in the oxide semiconductor
layer.
[0025] In the above structures, a protective insulating layer which
covers the insulating layer having defects may be provided.
[0026] Another embodiment of the present invention disclosed in
this specification is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor
device, including: forming a gate electrode layer and a gate
insulating layer which covers the gate electrode layer over a
substrate and introducing the substrate into a process chamber
under reduced pressure; introducing a sputtering gas from which
hydrogen and moisture are removed while removing moisture remaining
in the process chamber; forming an oxide semiconductor layer over
the gate insulating layer using a metal oxide target provided in
the process chamber in which moisture is removed; forming a source
electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxide
semiconductor layer; forming an oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer which is over the source electrode layer and the drain
electrode layer and which is in contact with the oxide
semiconductor layer by a sputtering method; forming an insulating
layer having defects over the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
by a sputtering method; and heating the substrate to make hydrogen
or moisture included in the oxide semiconductor layer move through
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer and diffuse into the
insulating layer having defects.
[0027] Another embodiment of the present invention disclosed in
this specification is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor
device, including: forming a gate electrode layer and a gate
insulating layer which covers the gate electrode layer over a
substrate and introducing the substrate into a process chamber
under reduced pressure; introducing a sputtering gas from which
hydrogen and moisture are removed while removing moisture remaining
in the process chamber; forming an oxide semiconductor layer over
the gate insulating layer using a metal oxide target provided in
the process chamber in which moisture is removed; forming a source
electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxide
semiconductor layer; forming an oxygen-excess mixed region which is
in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, and an insulating
layer having defects which is over the source electrode layer and
the drain electrode layer and which overlaps with the oxide
semiconductor layer with the oxygen-excess mixed region between the
insulating layer having defects and the oxide semiconductor layer,
by a sputtering method; and heating the substrate to make hydrogen
or moisture included in the oxide semiconductor layer move through
the oxygen-excess mixed region and diffuse into the insulating
layer having defects.
[0028] In the above structures, the heat treatment for making
impurities such as hydrogen or moisture included in the oxide
semiconductor layer diffuse into the insulating layer having
defects through the oxygen-excess mixed region or the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer may be performed after or while a protective
insulating layer is formed over the insulating layer having defects
(at least over a portion of the insulating layer having defects
which overlaps with a channel formation region in the oxide
semiconductor layer). The heat treatment is performed at
100.degree. C. to 400.degree. C. (or 150.degree. C. to 400.degree.
C.).
[0029] In the above methods for manufacturing a semiconductor
device, as the target for forming the oxide semiconductor film, a
target including zinc oxide as a main component can be used.
Alternatively, metal oxide including indium, gallium, or zinc can
be used as the target.
[0030] In the above methods for manufacturing a semiconductor
device, the insulating layer having defects may be a silicon oxide
film. As a target including silicon for forming the silicon oxide
film, a silicon target or a synthetic quartz target can be
used.
[0031] With any one of the above structures, at least one of the
above objects can be achieved.
[0032] Note that a thin film of InMO.sub.3(ZnO).sub.m (m>0) is
used as an oxide semiconductor layer and a thin film transistor is
formed using the thin film as an oxide semiconductor layer. Note
that M represents one or more metal elements selected from Ga, Fe,
Ni, Mn, and Co. For example, M may be Ga or may include any of the
above metal elements in addition to Ga; for example, M may be Ga
and Ni or Ga and Fe. Moreover, in the above oxide semiconductor, in
some cases, a transition metal element such as Fe or Ni or oxide of
the transition metal is included as an impurity element in addition
to a metal element included as M. In this specification, among the
oxide semiconductor layers whose composition formulas are
represented by InMO.sub.3(ZnO).sub.m (m>0), an oxide
semiconductor which includes Ga as M is referred to as an
In--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor, and a thin film of the
In--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor is also referred to as an
In--Ga--Zn--O-based film.
[0033] As metal oxide applicable to the oxide semiconductor layer,
any of the following oxide semiconductors can be applied besides
the above: In--Sn--O-based, In--Sn--Zn--O-based,
In--Al--Zn--O-based, Sn--Ga--Zn--O-based, Al--Ga--Zn--O-based,
Sn--Al--Zn--O-based, In--Zn--O-based, Sn--Zn--O-based,
Al--Zn--O-based, In--O-based, Sn--O-based, and Zn--O-based metal
oxide. Silicon may be included in the oxide semiconductor layer
formed using the above metal oxide.
[0034] The oxide semiconductor is preferably an oxide semiconductor
containing In, more preferably an oxide semiconductor containing In
and Ga. In order to obtain an i-type (intrinsic) oxide
semiconductor layer, dehydration or dehydrogenation is
effective.
[0035] Further, an oxide conductive layer may be formed between the
oxide semiconductor layer and the source electrode layer and the
drain electrode layer. The oxide conductive layer and the metal
layer for forming the source and drain electrode layers can be
formed successively.
[0036] Since a thin film transistor is easily broken due to static
electricity or the like, a protective circuit for protecting the
thin film transistor for a pixel portion is preferably provided
over the same substrate as a gate line or a source line. The
protective circuit is preferably formed using a non-linear element
including an oxide semiconductor layer.
[0037] Note that the ordinal numbers such as first and second in
this specification are used for convenience and do not denote the
order of steps and the stacking order of layers. In addition, the
ordinal numbers in this specification do not denote particular
names which specify the present invention.
[0038] A semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor with
stable electric characteristics can be provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0039] FIGS. 1A to 1E illustrate a semiconductor device and a
manufacturing method thereof.
[0040] FIGS. 2A to 2D illustrate a semiconductor device and a
manufacturing method thereof.
[0041] FIGS. 3A to 3E illustrate a semiconductor device and a
manufacturing method thereof.
[0042] FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate a semiconductor device and a
manufacturing method thereof.
[0043] FIGS. 5A to 5E illustrate a semiconductor device and a
manufacturing method thereof.
[0044] FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate a semiconductor device and a
manufacturing method thereof.
[0045] FIG. 7 illustrates a semiconductor device.
[0046] FIGS. 8A to 8C illustrate a semiconductor device.
[0047] FIG. 9 is a pixel equivalent circuit diagram of a
semiconductor device.
[0048] FIGS. 10A to 10C each illustrate a semiconductor device
[0049] FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a semiconductor device.
[0050] FIG. 12 illustrates a semiconductor device.
[0051] FIGS. 13A and 13B each illustrate an electronic device.
[0052] FIGS. 14A and 14B each illustrate an electronic device.
[0053] FIG. 15 illustrates an electronic device.
[0054] FIG. 16 illustrates an electronic device.
[0055] FIG. 17 illustrates electronic devices.
[0056] FIG. 18 illustrates a semiconductor device.
[0057] FIG. 19 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an
inverted staggered thin film transistor including an oxide
semiconductor.
[0058] FIGS. 20A and 20B are energy band diagrams (schematic
diagrams) along A-A' section illustrated in FIG. 19.
[0059] FIG. 21A shows a state in which a positive potential (+VG)
is applied to a gate (G1), and FIG. 21B shows a state in which a
negative potential (-VG) is applied to the gate (G1).
[0060] FIG. 22 shows a relation between the vacuum level and the
work function of a metal (.phi.M), and between the vacuum level and
the electron affinity of an oxide semiconductor (.chi.).
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0061] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be
described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the following
description and it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in
the art that modes and details can be modified in various ways.
Accordingly, the present invention should not be construed as being
limited to the description of the embodiments to be given
below.
Embodiment 1
[0062] In this embodiment, an embodiment of a semiconductor device
and a manufacturing method thereof will be described with reference
to FIGS. 1A to 1E. The semiconductor device described in this
embodiment is a thin film transistor.
[0063] FIGS. 1A to 1E illustrate an example of a cross-sectional
structure of a semiconductor device. A thin film transistor 110
illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1E has one type of a bottom-gate
structure and is also referred to as an inverted staggered thin
film transistor.
[0064] The thin film transistor 110 illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1E
includes, over a substrate 100 having an insulating surface, a gate
electrode layer 111, a gate insulating layer 102, an oxide
semiconductor layer 112, an oxygen-excess mixed region 119, a
source electrode layer 115a, and a drain electrode layer 115b. In
addition, an insulating layer 116 having defects which covers the
thin film transistor 110 and overlaps with the oxide semiconductor
layer 112 with the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 therebetween is
provided, and a protective insulating layer 103 is additionally
provided over the insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0065] Since the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 and the insulating
layer 116 having defects have a high binding energy to hydrogen or
moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound including a hydrogen atom
such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities are stabilized in the
oxygen-excess mixed region 119 and the insulating layer 116 having
defects, these impurities can be diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 and the
insulating layer 116 having defects, whereby these impurities can
be removed from the oxide semiconductor layer. Further, the
oxygen-excess mixed region 119 functions as a barrier layer against
impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer 116
having defects to prevent the impurities from entering the oxide
semiconductor layer 112 again; thus, the impurity concentration of
the oxide semiconductor layer 112 can be kept low. Accordingly, the
thin film transistor 110 including the oxide semiconductor layer
112 in which impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or
hydride (also referred to as a hydrogen compound) which cause
variation are reduced is a highly reliable thin film transistor
with stable electric characteristics.
[0066] FIG. 19 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an
inverted staggered thin film transistor including an oxide
semiconductor. An oxide semiconductor layer (OS) is provided over a
gate electrode (GE1) with a gate insulating film (GI) interposed
therebetween, and a source electrode (S) and a drain electrode (D)
are provided thereover.
[0067] FIGS. 20A and 20B are energy band diagrams (schematic
diagrams) along A-A' section illustrated in FIG. 19. FIG. 20A
illustrates the case where the potential of voltage applied to the
source is equal to the potential of voltage applied to the drain
(VD=0 V), and FIG. 20B illustrates the case where a positive
potential with respect to the source is applied to the drain
(VD>0).
[0068] FIGS. 21A and 21B are energy band diagrams (schematic
diagrams) along B-B' section illustrated in FIG. 19. FIG. 21A
illustrates an on state in which a positive potential (+VG) is
applied to the gate (G1) and carriers (electrons) flow between the
source and the drain. FIG. 21B illustrates an off state in which a
negative potential (-VG) is applied to the gate (G1) and minority
carriers do not flow.
[0069] FIG. 22 shows a relation between the vacuum level and the
work function of a metal (.phi.M), and between the vacuum level and
the electron affinity of an oxide semiconductor (.chi.).
[0070] Because electrons in metal are degenerated under room
temperature, a Fermi level is located in a conduction band. In
contrast, a conventional oxide semiconductor is generally of
n-type, and Fermi level (Ef) in that case is located closer to the
conduction band and is away from the intrinsic Fermi level (Ei)
that is located in the middle of the band gap. Note that it is
known that one of a factor that part of hydrogen is a donor which
donates an electron in an oxide semiconductor, a conventional oxide
semiconductor to be an n-type oxide semiconductor. Note that it is
known that one of the factors which make a conventional oxide
semiconductor to be an n-type oxide semiconductor is that part of
hydrogen in an oxide semiconductor becomes a donor which donates an
electron.
[0071] On the other hand, an oxide semiconductor according to the
present invention is an intrinsic (i-type) or a substantially
intrinsic oxide semiconductor which is obtained by removing
hydrogen that is an n-type impurity from an oxide semiconductor and
highly purifying the oxide semiconductor so that impurities that
are not main components of the oxide semiconductor is prevented
from being contained therein as much as possible. In other words, a
highly purified i-type (intrinsic) semiconductor or a semiconductor
close thereto is obtained not by adding an impurity but by removing
impurities such as hydrogen or water as much as possible. This
enables Fermi level (Ef) to be at the same level or to be
substantially the same level as the intrinsic Fermi level (Ei).
[0072] It is said that the electron affinity (.chi.) of an oxide
semiconductor is 4.3 eV in the case where the band gap (Eg) thereof
is 3.15 eV. The work function of titanium (Ti) used for forming the
source and drain electrodes is substantially equal to the electron
affinity (.chi.) of the oxide semiconductor. In that case, a
Schottky barrier for electrons is not formed at an interface
between the metal and the oxide semiconductor.
[0073] In other words, in the case where the work function of metal
(.phi.M) and the electron affinity (.chi.) of the oxide
semiconductor are equal to each other and the metal and the oxide
semiconductor are in contact with each other, an energy band
diagram (a schematic diagram) as illustrated in FIG. 20A is
obtained.
[0074] In FIG. 20B, a black circle ( ) represents an electron. When
a positive potential is applied to the drain, the electron is
injected into the oxide semiconductor over the barrier (h) and
flows toward the drain. In that case, the height of the barrier (h)
changes depending on the gate voltage and the drain voltage; in the
case where positive drain voltage is applied, the height of the
barrier (h) is smaller than the height of the barrier in FIG. 20A
where no voltage is applied, i.e., 1/2 of the band gap (Eg).
[0075] In this case, as shown in FIG. 21A, the electron moves along
the lowest part of the oxide semiconductor, which is energetically
stable, at an interface between the gate insulating film and the
highly-purified oxide semiconductor.
[0076] In FIG. 21B, when a negative potential (reverse bias) is
applied to the gate (G1), the number of holes that are minority
carriers is substantially zero; thus, the current value becomes a
value extremely close to zero.
[0077] For example, even when the thin film transistor has a
channel width W of 1.times.10.sup.4 .mu.m and a channel length of 3
.mu.m, an off current of 10.sup.-13 A or lower and a subthreshold
value (S value) of 0.1 V/dec. (the thickness of the gate insulating
film: 100 nm) can be obtained.
[0078] As described above, the oxide semiconductor is highly
purified so that impurities that are not main components of the
oxide semiconductor is prevented from being contained therein as
much as possible, whereby favorable operation of the thin film
transistor can be obtained.
[0079] Although the thin film transistor 110 is described as a
single-gate thin film transistor, a multi-gate thin film transistor
including a plurality of channel formation regions can be formed if
needed.
[0080] Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing the thin film
transistor 110 over the substrate 100 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 1A to 1E.
[0081] First, a conductive film is formed over the substrate 100
having an insulating surface, and then the gate electrode layer 111
is formed by a first photolithography step. It is preferable that
an end portion of the formed gate electrode layer be tapered
because coverage with a gate insulating layer formed thereover is
improved. Note that a resist mask may be formed by an ink jetting
method. The formation of the resist mask by an ink jetting method
does not use a photomask; thus, manufacturing cost can be
reduced.
[0082] Although there is no particular limitation on a substrate
which can be used as the substrate 100 having an insulating
surface, it is necessary that the substrate have at least enough
heat resistance to withstand heat treatment performed later. A
glass substrate of barium borosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate
glass or the like can be used.
[0083] As a glass substrate, if the temperature of the heat
treatment to be performed later is high, a glass substrate whose
strain point is 730.degree. C. or higher is preferably used. As a
glass substrate, a glass material such as aluminosilicate glass,
aluminoborosilicate glass, or barium borosilicate glass is used,
for example. Note that by containing a larger amount of barium
oxide (BaO) than boron oxide, a glass substrate which is
heat-resistant and more practical can be obtained. Therefore, a
glass substrate containing more BaO than B.sub.2O.sub.3 is
preferably used.
[0084] Note that a substrate formed of an insulator such as a
ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate may
be used instead of the above glass substrate. Alternatively,
crystallized glass or the like may be used. Further alternatively,
a plastic substrate or the like can be used as appropriate.
[0085] An insulating film functioning as a base film may be
provided between the substrate 100 and the gate electrode layer
111. The base film has a function of preventing diffusion of
impurity elements from the substrate 100, and can be formed to have
a single-layer or stacked-layer structure including one or more of
a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride
oxide film, and a silicon oxynitride film.
[0086] The gate electrode layer 111 can be formed to have a
single-layer or a stacked-layer structure using a metal material
such as molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, tungsten,
aluminum, copper, neodymium, or scandium, or an alloy material
which includes any of these materials as its main component.
[0087] For example, as a two-layer structure of the gate electrode
layer 111, a two-layer structure in which a molybdenum layer is
formed over an aluminum layer, a two-layer structure in which a
molybdenum layer is formed over a copper layer, a two-layer
structure in which a titanium nitride layer or a tantalum nitride
layer is formed over a copper layer, or a two-layer structure in
which a molybdenum layer is formed over a titanium nitride layer is
preferable. As a three-layer structure, a stacked-layer structure
in which a tungsten layer or a tungsten nitride layer, a layer of
an alloy of aluminum and silicon or alloy of aluminum and titanium,
and a titanium nitride layer or a titanium layer are stacked is
preferable. Note that the gate electrode layer can be formed using
a light-transmitting conductive film. As an example of a
light-transmitting conductive film, a light-transmitting conductive
oxide can be given.
[0088] Then, the gate insulating layer 102 is formed over the gate
electrode layer 111.
[0089] The gate insulating layer 102 can be formed to have a
single-layer or a stacked-layer structure including a silicon oxide
layer, a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a
silicon nitride oxide layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum
nitride layer, an aluminum oxynitride layer, an aluminum nitride
oxide layer, or a hafnium oxide layer by a plasma CVD method, a
sputtering method, or the like. In order to prevent the gate
insulating layer 102 from including a large amount of hydrogen, the
gate insulating layer 102 is preferably formed by a sputtering
method. When a silicon oxide film is formed by a sputtering method,
a silicon target or a quartz target is used as a target and oxygen
or a mixed gas of oxygen and argon is used as a sputtering gas.
[0090] The gate insulating layer 102 can have a stacked-layer
structure in which a silicon nitride layer and a silicon oxide
layer are stacked over the gate electrode layer 111 in this order.
For example, a gate insulating layer having a thickness of 100 nm
is formed in such a manner that a silicon nitride layer (SiN.sub.y
(y>0)) having a thickness of 50 nm to 200 nm inclusive is formed
by a sputtering method as a first gate insulating layer, and a
silicon oxide layer (SiO.sub.x (x>0)) having a thickness of 5 nm
to 300 nm inclusive is formed as a second gate insulating layer
over the first gate insulating layer. The thickness of the gate
insulating layer may be set as appropriate depending on the desired
characteristics of the thin film transistor. The thickness may be
approximately 350 nm to 400 nm.
[0091] Further, in order that hydrogen, hydroxyl, and moisture may
be contained in the gate insulating layer 102 and the oxide
semiconductor film 120 as little as possible, it is preferable that
the substrate 100 over which the gate electrode layer 111 is formed
or the substrate 100 over which layers up to the gate insulating
layer 102 are formed be preheated in a preheating chamber of a
sputtering apparatus as pretreatment for film formation so that
impurities such as hydrogen and moisture adsorbed to the substrate
100 is removed and exhausted. Note that the temperature of the
preheating is 100.degree. C. to 400.degree. C. inclusive,
preferably 150.degree. C. to 300.degree. C. inclusive. As an
evacuation means provided for the preheating chamber, a cryopump is
preferable. Note that this preheating treatment can be omitted.
Further, this preheating may be similarly performed on the
substrate 100 over which layers up to the source electrode layer
115a and the drain electrode layer 115b are formed, before the
formation of the insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0092] Then, the oxide semiconductor film 120 having a thickness of
2 nm to 200 nm inclusive is formed over the gate insulating layer
102 (see FIG. 1A).
[0093] Note that before the oxide semiconductor film 120 is formed
by a sputtering method, dust attached to a surface of the gate
insulating layer 102 is preferably removed by reverse sputtering in
which an argon gas is introduced and plasma is generated. The
reverse sputtering refers to a method in which, without application
of voltage to a target side, an RF power source is used for
application of voltage to a substrate side in an argon atmosphere
in order to generate plasma in the vicinity of the substrate to
modify a surface. Note that instead of an argon atmosphere,
nitrogen, helium, oxygen, or the like may be used.
[0094] The oxide semiconductor film 120 is formed by a sputtering
method. As the oxide semiconductor film 120, an In--Ga--Zn--O-based
film, an In--Sn--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
In--Al--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
Sn--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
Al--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
Sn--Al--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In--Zn--O-based
oxide semiconductor film, an Sn--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor
film, an Al--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In--O-based
oxide semiconductor film, an Sn--O-based oxide semiconductor film,
or a Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film is used. In this
embodiment, the oxide semiconductor film 120 is formed by a
sputtering method using an In--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide target.
Further, the oxide semiconductor film 120 can be formed by a
sputtering method in a rare gas (typically argon) atmosphere, an
oxygen atmosphere, or an atmosphere of a rare gas (typically argon)
and oxygen. In the case of film formation by a sputtering method, a
target including SiO.sub.2 at 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive may be
used.
[0095] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film 120 is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0096] As a target for forming the oxide semiconductor film 120 by
a sputtering method, a metal oxide target including zinc oxide as
its main component can be used. Another example of a metal oxide
target which can be used is a metal oxide target including In, Ga,
and Zn (with a composition ratio of
In.sub.2O.sub.3:Ga.sub.2O.sub.3:ZnO=1:1:1 [molar ratio]. As the
metal oxide target including In, Ga, and Zn, a target having a
composition ratio of In.sub.2O.sub.3:Ga.sub.2O.sub.3:ZnO=1:1:2
[molar ratio] or a target having a composition ratio of
In.sub.2O.sub.3:Ga.sub.2O.sub.3:ZnO=1:1:4 [molar ratio] can be
used. The filling factor of the metal oxide target is 90% to 100%
inclusive, and preferably 95% to 99.9% inclusive. With the use of a
metal oxide target with high filling factor, the formed oxide
semiconductor film has high density.
[0097] The substrate is placed in a process chamber under reduced
pressure, and is heated to a temperature lower than 400.degree. C.
While moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed, a
sputtering gas from which hydrogen and moisture are removed is
introduced to form the oxide semiconductor film 120 over the
substrate 100 using metal oxide as a target. In order to remove
moisture remaining in the process chamber, a capture-type vacuum
pump is preferably used. For example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a
titanium sublimation pump is preferably used. An evacuation means
may be a turbo pump provided with a cold trap. In the
film-formation chamber which is evacuated with the cryopump,
hydrogen atoms, a compound including a hydrogen atom such as
H.sub.2O, and a compound including a carbon atom, for example, are
exhausted. Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in
the oxide semiconductor film formed in this film-formation chamber
can be reduced.
[0098] For the formation of the oxide semiconductor film, not only
in the process chamber for forming the oxide semiconductor film but
also in the process chamber for steps before and after formation of
films in contact with the oxide semiconductor film and steps before
and after the formation of the oxide semiconductor film, an
evacuation means such as a cryopump is preferably used in order to
prevent impurities such as moisture remaining in the process
chamber from being mixed into the oxide semiconductor film.
[0099] As an example of film formation conditions, the following
condition is employed: the distance between the substrate and the
target is 100 mm, the pressure is 0.6 Pa, the direct current (DC)
power supply is 0.5 kW, and the atmosphere is an oxygen atmosphere
(the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). A pulse direct current
(DC) power supply is preferable because powder substances (also
referred to as particles or dust) generated in the film formation
can be reduced and the film thickness can be made uniform. The
oxide semiconductor film preferably has a thickness of 5 nm to 30
nm inclusive. Note that an appropriate thickness of the oxide
semiconductor film varies depending on the material; therefore, the
thickness may be determined depending on the material.
[0100] By forming the oxide semiconductor film 120 as described
above by a sputtering method, an oxide semiconductor film with a
low hydrogen concentration can be obtained. The hydrogen
concentration given in this specification is a quantified result
obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).
[0101] Examples of a sputtering method include an RF sputtering
method in which a high-frequency power source is used for a
sputtering power supply, a DC sputtering method in which a DC power
source is used, and a pulsed DC sputtering method in which a bias
is applied in a pulsed manner. An RF sputtering method is mainly
used in the case where an insulating film is formed, and a DC
sputtering method is mainly used in the case where a metal film is
formed.
[0102] In addition, there is also a multi-source sputtering
apparatus in which a plurality of targets of different materials
can be set. With the multi-source sputtering apparatus, films of
different materials can be formed to be stacked in the same
chamber, or a film can be formed by electric discharge of plural
kinds of materials at the same time in the same chamber.
[0103] In addition, there are a sputtering apparatus provided with
a magnet system inside the chamber and used for a magnetron
sputtering method, and a sputtering apparatus used for an ECR
sputtering method in which plasma generated with the use of
microwaves is used without using glow discharge.
[0104] Furthermore, as a film-formation method using a sputtering
method, there are also a reactive sputtering method in which a
target substance and a sputtering gas component are chemically
reacted with each other during film formation to form a thin
compound film thereof, and a bias sputtering method in which
voltage is also applied to a substrate during film formation.
[0105] Then, the oxide semiconductor film is processed into an
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 121 by a second
photolithography step (see FIG. 1B). Note that a resist mask for
forming the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 121 may be
formed by an ink jetting method. The formation of the resist mask
by an ink jetting method does not use a photomask; thus,
manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0106] In the case of forming a contact hole in the gate insulating
layer 102, the step can be performed at the time of the formation
of the oxide semiconductor layer 121.
[0107] The etching of the oxide semiconductor film 120 may be
performed by dry etching, dry etching, or both wet etching and dry
etching.
[0108] As an etching gas used for dry etching, a gas including
chlorine (a chlorine-based gas such as chlorine (Cl.sub.2), boron
chloride (BCl.sub.3), silicon chloride (SiCl.sub.4), or carbon
tetrachloride (CCl.sub.4)) is preferably used.
[0109] Further, a gas including fluorine (a fluorine-based gas such
as carbon tetrafluoride (CF.sub.4), sulfur fluoride (SF.sub.6),
nitrogen fluoride (NF.sub.3), or trifluoromethane (CHF.sub.3)),
hydrogen bromide (HBr), oxygen (O.sub.2), any of these gases to
which a rare gas such as helium (He) or argon (Ar) is added, or the
like can be used.
[0110] As the dry etching method, a parallel plate reactive ion
etching (RIE) method or an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching
method can be used. In order to etch the film into a desired shape,
the etching conditions (the amount of electric power applied to a
coil-shaped electrode, the amount of electric power applied to an
electrode on a substrate side, the temperature of the electrode on
the substrate side, or the like) is adjusted as appropriate.
[0111] As an etchant used for wet etching, for example, a solution
obtained by mixing phosphoric acid, acetic acid, and nitric acid,
and an ammonia peroxide mixture (31 wt % hydrogen peroxide water:28
wt % ammonia water:water=5:2:2), or the like can be used. Further,
ITO-07N (produced by KANTO CHEMICAL CO., INC.) may also be
used.
[0112] The etchant after the wet etching is removed together with
the material which is etched off by cleaning. The waste liquid
including the etchant and the material which is etched off may be
purified and the material may be reused. Materials such as indium
included in the oxide semiconductor layer are collected from the
waste liquid after the etching and reused, so that resources can be
effectively used and manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0113] The etching conditions (such as an etchant, etching time,
and temperature) are adjusted as appropriate depending on the
material so that the film can be etched into the desired shape.
[0114] Note that it is preferable that reverse sputtering be
performed before formation of a conductive film in the subsequent
step in order to remove a resist residue or the like attached on
the surfaces of the oxide semiconductor layer 121 and the gate
insulating layer 102.
[0115] Then, a conductive film is formed over the gate insulating
layer 102 and the oxide semiconductor layer 121. The conductive
film may be formed by a sputtering method or a vacuum evaporation
method. As a material of the second conductive film, an element
selected from aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), tantalum
(Ta), titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W), an alloy
containing any of these elements as a component, an alloy
containing any of these the elements in combination, or the like
can be given. Further, one or more materials selected from
manganese (Mn), magnesium (Mg), zirconium (Zr), beryllium (Be), and
thorium (Th) may be used. Further, the metal conductive film may
have a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure of two
or more layers. For example, a single-layer structure of an
aluminum film including silicon, a two-layer structure in which a
titanium film is stacked over an aluminum film, a three-layer
structure in which a titanium film, an aluminum film, and a
titanium film are stacked in this order can be given.
Alternatively, a film, an alloy film, or a nitride film which
contains aluminum (Al) and one or a plurality of elements selected
from titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo),
chromium (Cr), neodymium (Nd), and scandium (Sc) may be used.
[0116] By a third photolithography step, a resist mask is formed
over the conductive film, and etching is selectively performed;
thus, a source electrode layer 115a and a drain electrode layer
115b are formed. Then, the resist mask is removed (see FIG.
1C).
[0117] Ultraviolet, a KrF laser light, or an ArF laser light is
used for light exposure for forming the resist mask in the third
photolithography step. A channel length L of the thin film
transistor to be formed later depends on a width of an interval
between a bottom portion of the source electrode layer and a bottom
portion of the drain electrode layer which are adjacent to each
other over the oxide semiconductor layer 121. Note that when light
exposure is performed for the channel length L of less than 25 nm,
extreme ultraviolet with extremely short wavelengths of several
nanometers to several tens of nanometers is used for light exposure
for forming the resist mask in the third photolithography step.
Light exposure with extreme ultraviolet leads to a high resolution
and a large depth of field. Accordingly, the channel length L of
the thin film transistor to be formed later can be set to 10 nm to
1000 nm inclusive. Thus, the operation speed of a circuit can be
increased, and low power consumption can be achieved due to
extremely small off-state current.
[0118] Note that each material and etching conditions are adjusted
as appropriate so that the oxide semiconductor layer 121 should not
removed by etching of the conductive film.
[0119] In this embodiment, a Ti film is used as the conductive
film, an In--Ga--Zn--O-based is used as the oxide semiconductor
layer 121, and an ammonia hydrogen peroxide (a mixture of ammonia,
water, and hydrogen peroxide) is used as an etchant.
[0120] Note that in the third photolithography step, the oxide
semiconductor layer 121 may be partly etched in some cases to be an
oxide semiconductor layer having a groove (a depression portion). A
resist mask for forming the source electrode layer 115a and the
drain electrode layer 115b may be formed by an ink jetting method.
The formation of the resist mask by an ink jetting method does not
use a photomask; thus, manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0121] Further, in order to reduce the number of photomasks used in
the photolithography steps and reduce the number of
photolithography steps, an etching step may be performed with the
use of a multi-tone mask which is a light-exposure mask through
which light is transmitted to have a plurality of intensities. A
resist mask formed using a multi-tone mask has a plurality of
thicknesses and further can be changed in shape by being etched,
and thus can be used in a plurality of etching steps to provide
different patterns. Therefore, a resist mask corresponding to at
least two kinds of different patterns can be formed using one
multi-tone mask. Thus, the number of light-exposure masks can be
reduced and the number of corresponding photolithography steps can
also be reduced, whereby simplification of the process can be
realized.
[0122] Plasma treatment using a gas such as N.sub.2O, N.sub.2, or
Ar may be performed to remove adsorbed water or the like of an
exposed surface of the oxide semiconductor layer. Plasma treatment
may be performed using a mixed gas of oxygen and argon.
[0123] Then, the insulating layer 116 having defects is formed over
the oxide semiconductor layer 121 without exposure to air. In the
formation of the insulating layer 116 having defects, the
oxygen-excess mixed region 119 is formed between the oxide
semiconductor layer 121 and the insulating layer 116 having defects
(see FIG. 1D). In this embodiment, the insulating layer 116 having
defects is formed to overlap with the oxide semiconductor layer
121, and the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 is provided
therebetween in a region where the oxide semiconductor layer 121
does not overlap with the source electrode layer 115a or the drain
electrode layer 115b.
[0124] The mixed region is a mixed region of materials included in
the oxide semiconductor layer and in the overlying insulating layer
having defects. By providing the mixed region, an interface between
the oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer having
defects is not clearly defined; thus, diffusion of hydrogen from
the oxide semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having
defects is facilitated. For example, when a silicon oxide layer is
used as the insulating layer having defects, the mixed region
includes oxygen, silicon, and at least one of the metal elements
included in the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0125] As in this embodiment, in the case where a silicon oxide is
used for the insulating layer 116 having defects and an
In--Ga--Zn--O-based film is used as the oxide semiconductor, the
mixed region 119 includes oxygen, silicon, and at least one metal
element selected from In, Ga, and Zn. The metal in the oxide
semiconductor can exist in a variety of states in the mixed region
119; referring to the metal included in the oxide semiconductor as
M, the metal in the mixed region 119 can be expressed as M-OH, M-H,
M-O--Si--H, and M-O--Si--OH, specifically, Zn--H, Zn--OH, and the
like.
[0126] The mixed region 119 may have a thickness of 0.1 nm to 30 nm
(preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm). The thickness of the mixed region 119
can be controlled by the film formation conditions of the
sputtering method at the time of forming the insulating layer 116
having defects. If the power supply is set higher and the distance
between the substrate and the target is set shorter in the
sputtering method, the mixed region 119 can be formed thicker. When
the sputtering method is conducted with higher power supply, water
or the like adsorbed on a surface of the oxide semiconductor layer
121 can be removed.
[0127] The provision of the mixed region 119 between the oxide
semiconductor layer 121 and the insulating layer 116 having defects
facilitates diffusion of hydrogen atoms, a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O, a compound including a carbon atom,
and the like which are included in the oxide semiconductor layer
121 into the insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0128] The mixed region 119 needs to include excess oxygen and
therefore is formed using a sputtering gas which includes much
oxygen in order to provide an oxygen-excess region, and after the
formation of the mixed region 119, the amount of oxygen in the
sputtering gas may be adjusted for the formation of the insulating
layer 116 having defects.
[0129] Instead of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon oxynitride
layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride layer, or
the like can be used as the insulating layer 116 having defects.
Further, a silicon nitride layer, a silicon nitride oxide layer, an
aluminum nitride layer, an aluminum nitride oxide layer, or the
like may be used as the insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0130] In this embodiment, to form an oxygen-excess mixed region
and a silicon oxide layer, the substrate 100 over which layers up
to the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 121, the source
electrode layer 115a, and the drain electrode layer 115b are formed
is heated to room temperature or a temperature lower than
100.degree. C., a sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from
which hydrogen and moisture are removed is introduced, and a
silicon target is used.
[0131] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the insulating
layer 116 having defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0132] For example, a silicon oxide film is formed by a pulsed DC
sputtering method under the following condition: a boron-doped
silicon target which has a purity of 6N (the resistivity is 0.01
.OMEGA.cm) is used; the distance between the substrate and the
target (T-S distance) is 89 mm; the pressure is 0.4 Pa, the
direct-current (DC) power source is 6 kW, and the atmosphere is
oxygen (the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). The film
thickness is 300 nm. Note that instead of a silicon target, quartz
(preferably, synthetic quartz) can be used as the target for
forming the silicon oxide film. As a sputtering gas, an oxygen gas
or a mixed gas of oxygen and argon is used.
[0133] It is preferable that the mixed region 119 and the
insulating layer 116 having defects be formed while moisture
remaining in the process chamber is removed so that hydrogen,
hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor layer 121, the mixed region 119, or the insulating
layer 116 having defects.
[0134] Note that the mixed region 119 may be formed using silicon
oxynitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, or the like,
instead of silicon oxide.
[0135] Then, heat treatment is performed at 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C., in a state where the insulating layer 116 having
defects and the oxide semiconductor layer 121 are in contact with
each other with the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 therebetween.
This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture included in
the oxide semiconductor layer 121 into the oxygen-excess mixed
region 119 and the insulating layer 116 having defects. Since the
oxygen-excess mixed region 119 is provided between the insulating
layer 116 having defects and the oxide semiconductor layer 121,
impurities such as hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture included in the
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 121 are diffused from the
oxide semiconductor layer 121 into the oxygen-excess mixed region
119 or into the insulating layer 116 having defects through the
oxygen-excess mixed region 119.
[0136] The mixed region 119 which is provided between the oxide
semiconductor layer 121 and the insulating layer 116 having defects
includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen dangling bonds as
defects and has high binding energy to impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of the oxygen-excess
mixed region 119 facilitates diffusion and movement of impurities
such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride included in the
oxide semiconductor layer 121 into the insulating layer 116 having
defects.
[0137] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer 121 and diffused into the
insulating layer 116 having defects move back toward the oxide
semiconductor layer 121, the oxygen-excess mixed region 119
functions as a protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to
and stabilizes the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer 121.
[0138] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer 121, the oxide semiconductor layer 112 with
reduced impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess
mixed region 119 which functions as a barrier layer prevents the
impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer 116
having defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 112
again; thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer 112 can be kept low.
[0139] An oxygen-excess mixed region or an oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer, which is provided between an oxide semiconductor
layer and an insulating layer having defects, includes excess
oxygen, and thus has many oxygen dangling bonds as defects.
Concerning diffusion of hydrogen from the oxide semiconductor layer
into such an insulating layer having defects, it was calculated
that in which of an oxide semiconductor layer (amorphous IGZO) and
an insulating layer having defects (amorphous SiO.sub.x), hydrogen
atom are more likely to exist.
[0140] A binding energy E_bind of a hydrogen atom was defined as
follows, so that stability of the hydrogen atom in an environment
was evaluated.
E_bind={E(original structure)+E(H)}-E(structure with H)
The larger this bound E_bind becomes, the more likely the hydrogen
atom is to exist. E(original structure), E(H), and E(structure with
H) respectively represent energy of the original structure, energy
of the hydrogen atom, and energy of the structure with H. The
binding energy of four samples was calculated: amorphous IGZO,
amorphous SiO.sub.2 without dangling bonds (hereinafter abbreviated
to DB), and two kinds of amorphous SiO.sub.x with DB.
[0141] For calculation, CASTEP, which is a program for a density
functional theory, was used. As a method for the density functional
theory, a plane wave basis pseudopotential method was used. As a
functional, LDA was used. Cut-off energy was 300 eV. A
2.times.2.times.2 grid K-point grid was used.
[0142] The calculated structures are described below. First, the
original structure is described. A unit cell of amorphous IGZO
includes 84 atoms in total: 12 In atoms, 12 Ga atoms, 12 Zn atoms,
and 48 O atoms. A unit cell of amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB
includes 48 atoms in total: 16 Si atoms and 32 O atoms. Amorphous
SiO.sub.x with DB (1) has such a structure in which one O atom is
removed from the amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB and one Si atom
which has been bonded to the O atom is bonded to H; that is, it
includes 48 atoms in total: 16 Si atoms, 31 O atoms, and 1 H atom.
Amorphous SiO.sub.x with DB (2) has such a structure in which one
Si atom is removed from the amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB and
three O atoms which have been bonded to the Si atom are each bonded
to H atoms; that is, it includes 50 atoms in total: 15 Si atoms, 32
O atoms, and 3 H atoms. The structure with H is a structure in
which H was attached to each of the above four structures. Note
that H was attached to an O atom in the amorphous IGZO, to a Si
atom in the amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB, and to an atom that has
DB in the amorphous SiO.sub.x with DB. The structure in which H was
calculated includes one H atom in a unit cell. Note that the cell
size of each structure is shown in Table 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 structure cell size (nm) angle amorphous
IGZO 1.0197 .times. 1.0197 .times. 1.0197 .alpha. = .beta. =
.gamma. = 90.degree. amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB 0.9127 .times.
0.9127 .times. 0.9127 amorphous SiOx(1) with DB .alpha. = .beta. =
.gamma. = 90.degree. amorphous SiOx(2) with DB Hydrogen atom 1.0000
.times. 1.0000 .times. 1.0000 .alpha. = .beta. = .gamma. =
90.degree.
[0143] Calculation results are shown in Table 2.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 energy of energy of structure with original
energy of H atom in structure in hydrogen binding a unit cell a
unit cell atom energy (eV) (eV) (eV) (eV) amorphous IGZO
-84951.3359 -84935.6442 -13.0015 2.69 amorphous SiO2 -15783.8101
-15770.6279 -13.0015 0.18 without DB amorphous SiOx(1) -15363.1459
-15345.6884 -13.0015 4.46 with DB amorphous SiOx(2) -15722.2053
-15702.5905 -13.0015 6.61 with DB
[0144] From the above, amorphous SiO.sub.x with DB (2) having a
structure in which Si is removed from the amorphous SiO.sub.2
without DB and three O atoms which have been bonded to the Si are
each bonded to H has the highest binding energy, followed by
SiO.sub.x (1) having a structure in which one O atom is removed
from the amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB and one Si atom which has
been bonded to the one O atom is bonded to H, amorphous IGZO, and
amorphous SiO.sub.2 without DB having the lowest binding energy.
Therefore, hydrogen becomes the most stable when being bonded to DB
in amorphous SiO.sub.x having DB which is caused by excess
oxygen.
[0145] As a result, the following process can be assumed. There is
a large amount of DBs in amorphous SiO.sub.x. A hydrogen atom at
the vicinity of the interface between amorphous IGZO and amorphous
SiO.sub.x becomes stable by being bonded to the DB in the amorphous
SiO.sub.x. Thus, the hydrogen atom in the amorphous IGZO moves to
the DB in the amorphous SiO.sub.x.
[0146] Further, from the fact that the amorphous SiO.sub.x with DB
(2) having the structure in which dangling bonds are formed by
removal of Si has a higher binding energy than the SiO.sub.x with
DB (1) having the structure in which a dangling bond is formed by
removal of O, hydrogen atoms in SiO.sub.x are more stable when
being bonded to O.
[0147] If the insulating layer having defects is an insulating
layer having many oxygen dangling bonds as defects, its binding
energy to hydrogen is high; accordingly, more hydrogen atoms or
more impurities including hydrogen can be diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having defects.
Therefore, the mixed region or the oxide insulating layer which is
in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer preferably includes
excess oxygen, and is preferably expressed by SiO.sub.2+x where x
is equal to or greater than 0 and less than 3.
[0148] Through the above process, the thin film transistor 110
including the oxide semiconductor layer 112 in which the
concentration of hydrogen and hydride is reduced can be formed (see
FIG. 1E). By reducing the concentration of the impurities such as
hydrogen or moisture, generation of parasitic channel on the back
channel side, i.e., in a superficial portion of the oxide
semiconductor layer can be suppressed.
[0149] In the thin film transistor 110, a channel formation region
can be formed in the oxide semiconductor layer in which the
hydrogen is set equal to or less than 5.times.10.sup.19/cm.sup.3,
preferably equal to or less than 5.times.10.sup.18/cm.sup.3, and
more preferably equal to or less than 5.times.10.sup.17/cm.sup.3;
hydrogen or O--H group in the oxide semiconductor is removed; and
the carrier concentration is equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.14/cm.sup.3, preferably equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.12/cm.sup.3.
[0150] The energy gap of the oxide semiconductor is set to be equal
to or greater than 2 eV, preferably equal to or greater than 2.5
eV, more preferably equal to or greater than 3 eV to reduce as much
impurities, such as hydrogen which form donors, as possible, and
the carrier concentration of the oxide semiconductor is set to
equal to or less than 1.times.10.sup.14/cm.sup.3, preferably equal
to or less than 1.times.10.sup.12/cm.sup.3.
[0151] When the thus purified oxide semiconductor is used for a
channel formation region of the thin film transistor 110, even in
the case where the channel width is 10 mm, the drain current of
equal to or less than 1.times.10.sup.-13 A is obtained at drain
voltages of 1 V and 10 V and gate voltages in the range of -5 V to
-20 V.
[0152] As described above, by removing remaining moisture in the
reaction atmosphere for the formation of the oxide semiconductor
film, the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the oxide
semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, by providing the
insulating layer having defects over the oxide semiconductor layer
with the oxygen-excess mixed region therebetween, impurities such
as hydrogen or moisture in the oxide semiconductor layer are
diffused into the insulating layer having defects, whereby the
concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the oxide semiconductor
layer can be reduced. Accordingly, the oxide semiconductor layer
can be stabilized.
[0153] A protective insulating layer may be provided over the
insulating layer having defects. In this embodiment, the protective
insulating layer 103 is formed over the insulating layer 116 having
defects. As the protective insulating layer 103, a silicon nitride
film, a silicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum nitride film, or
the like can be used.
[0154] As the protective insulating layer 103, a silicon nitride
film is formed by heating the substrate 100 over which layers up to
the insulating layer 116 having defects are formed, to a
temperature of 100.degree. C. to 400.degree. C.; introducing a
sputtering gas including high-purity nitrogen from which hydrogen
and moisture are removed; and using a silicon target. In this step
also, it is preferable that the protective insulating layer 103 be
formed while moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed
as in the case of the insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0155] In the case of forming the protective insulating layer 103,
if the substrate 100 is heated to a temperature of 100.degree. C.
to 400.degree. C. at the time of the formation of the protective
insulating layer 103, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture
included in the oxide semiconductor layer can be diffused into the
insulating layer 116 having defects. In that case, heat treatment
is not necessarily performed after the formation of the insulating
layer 116 having defects.
[0156] In the case where a silicon oxide layer is formed as the
insulating layer 116 having defects and a silicon nitride layer is
formed thereover as the protective insulating layer 103, the
silicon oxide layer and the silicon nitride layer can be formed in
the same process chamber using a common silicon target. First, a
sputtering gas including oxygen is introduced and a silicon oxide
layer is formed using a silicon target placed inside the process
chamber, and then the sputtering gas is switched to a sputtering
gas including nitrogen and a silicon nitride layer is formed using
the same silicon target. Since the silicon oxide layer and the
silicon nitride layer can be formed in succession without exposure
to air, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture can be prevented
from being adsorbed on a surface of the silicon oxide layer. In
that case, after the silicon oxide layer is formed as the
insulating layer 116 having defects and the silicon nitride layer
is formed thereover as the protective insulating layer 103, heat
treatment (at a temperature of 100.degree. C. to 400.degree. C.)
for diffusion of hydrogen or moisture in the oxide semiconductor
layer into the insulating layer having defects is preferably
performed.
[0157] After the formation of the protective insulating layer, heat
treatment may be further performed at 100.degree. C. to 200.degree.
C. inclusive in air for 1 hour to 30 hours inclusive. This heat
treatment may be performed at a fixed heating temperature or the
following change in the heating temperature may be conducted plural
times repeatedly: the heating temperature is increased from room
temperature to a temperature of 100.degree. C. to 200.degree. C.
inclusive and then decreased to room temperature. Further, this
heat treatment may be performed under reduced pressure before the
formation of the protective insulating layer. Under reduced
pressure, the heat treatment time can be shortened. With this heat
treatment, a normally-off thin film transistor can be obtained.
Accordingly, the reliability of the semiconductor device can be
improved.
[0158] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer 112 due to the heat treatment after being diffused into the
insulating layer 116 having defects, the oxygen-excess mixed region
119 functioning as a barrier layer prevents the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer 112. Thus, the impurity
concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer 112 can be kept
low.
[0159] The above process can be used for manufacturing a backplane
(a substrate over which a thin film transistor is formed) of a
liquid crystal display panel, an electroluminescent display panel,
a display device using electronic ink, and the like. Since the
above process can be performed at a temperature equal to or less
than 400.degree. C., the process can be preferably applied to a
manufacturing process using a glass substrate having a side longer
than 1 m and a thickness less than or equal to 1 mm.
[0160] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 2
[0161] In this embodiment, another example of a thin film
transistor which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed
in this specification will be described. The same portion as or a
portion having a function similar to those in the above embodiment
can be formed in a manner similar to that described in the above
embodiment, and also the steps similar to those in the above
embodiment can be performed in a manner similar to that described
in the above embodiment, and repetitive description is omitted. In
addition, detailed description of the same portions is not
repeated.
[0162] FIGS. 2A to 2D illustrate an example of a cross-sectional
structure of a semiconductor device. A thin film transistor 130
illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2D has one type of a bottom-gate
structure and is also referred to as an inverted staggered thin
film transistor.
[0163] The thin film transistor 130 illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2D
includes, over the substrate 100 having an insulating surface, the
gate electrode layer 111, the gate insulating layer 102, an oxide
semiconductor layer 132, the source electrode layer 115a, and the
drain electrode layer 115b. In addition, an oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 which covers the thin film transistor 130 and
is in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 132 is provided,
and the insulating layer 116 having defects is formed over the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139. In addition, the
protective insulating layer 103 is formed over the insulating layer
116 having defects.
[0164] Since the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 and the
insulating layer 116 having defects have a high binding energy to
hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities are stabilized
in the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 and the insulating
layer 116 having defects, these impurities can be diffused from the
oxide semiconductor layer 132 into the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 and the insulating layer 116 having defects,
whereby these impurities can be removed from the oxide
semiconductor layer 132. Further, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 functions as a barrier layer against
impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer 116
having defects to prevent the impurities from entering the oxide
semiconductor layer 132 again; thus, the impurity concentration of
the oxide semiconductor layer 132 can be kept low. Accordingly, the
thin film transistor 130 including the oxide semiconductor layer
132 in which impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or
hydride (also referred to as a hydrogen compound) which cause
variation are reduced is a highly reliable thin film transistor
with stable electric characteristics.
[0165] As the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139, a silicon
oxide layer (SiO.sub.2+x, where x is preferably equal to or greater
than 0 and less than 3) can be used. The oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 may have a thickness of 0.1 nm to 30 nm
(preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm).
[0166] Although the thin film transistor 130 is described as a
single-gate thin film transistor, a multi-gate thin film transistor
including a plurality of channel formation regions can be formed if
needed.
[0167] Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing the thin film
transistor 130 over the substrate 100 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 2A to 2D.
[0168] First, a conductive film is formed over the substrate 100
having an insulating surface, and then the gate electrode layer 111
is formed by a first photolithography step.
[0169] Then, the gate insulating layer 102 is formed over the gate
electrode layer 111. The gate insulating layer 102 can have a
stacked-layer structure in which a silicon nitride layer and a
silicon oxide layer are stacked over the gate electrode layer 111
in this order.
[0170] Then, an oxide semiconductor film is formed over the gate
insulating layer 102 and processed into an island-shaped oxide
semiconductor layer 121 by a second photolithography step. In this
embodiment, the oxide semiconductor film is formed by a sputtering
method using an In--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide target.
[0171] Then, a conductive film is formed over the gate insulating
layer 102 and the oxide semiconductor layer 121. By a third
photolithography step, a resist mask is formed over the conductive
film, and selective etching is performed; thus, the source
electrode layer 115a and the drain electrode layer 115b are formed.
Then, the resist mask is removed (see FIG. 2A).
[0172] Then, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 is formed
over the gate insulating layer 102, the oxide semiconductor layer
121, the source electrode layer 115a, and the drain electrode layer
115b (see FIG. 2B). In this embodiment, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 is formed to be in contact with the oxide
semiconductor layer 121 in a region where the oxide semiconductor
layer 121 does not overlap with the source electrode layer 115a or
the drain electrode layer 115b.
[0173] In this embodiment, to form a silicon oxide layer
(SiO.sub.2+x, where x is preferably equal to or greater than 0 and
less than 3) as the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139, the
substrate 100 over which layers up to the source electrode layer
115a and the drain electrode layer 115b are formed is heated to
room temperature or a temperature lower than 100.degree. C., a
sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed is introduced, and a silicon target is used.
The thickness of the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 may
be 0.1 nm to 30 nm (preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm).
[0174] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 139 is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0175] For example, a silicon oxide layer is formed by a pulsed DC
sputtering method under the following condition: a boron-doped
silicon target which has a purity of 6N (the resistivity is 0.01
.OMEGA.cm) is used; the distance between the substrate and the
target (S-T distance) is 89 mm; the pressure is 0.4 Pa, the
direct-current (DC) power source is 6 kW, and the atmosphere is
oxygen (the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%).
[0176] Note that instead of a silicon target, quartz (preferably,
synthetic quartz) can be used as the target for forming the silicon
oxide layer. As a sputtering gas, an oxygen gas or a mixed gas of
oxygen and argon is used.
[0177] Note that instead of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon
oxynitride layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride
layer, or the like can be used as the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139.
[0178] Then the insulating layer 116 having defects is formed over
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 without exposure to
air.
[0179] In this embodiment, to form the insulating layer 116 having
defects, the substrate 100 over which layers up to the
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 121, the source electrode
layer 115a, the drain electrode layer 115b, and the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 139 are formed is heated to room temperature
or a temperature lower than 100.degree. C., a sputtering gas
including high-purity oxygen from which hydrogen and moisture are
removed is introduced, and a silicon target is used. The
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 and the insulating layer
116 having defects may be formed in the same process chamber using
the same target.
[0180] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the insulating
layer 116 having defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0181] It is preferable that oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
139 and the insulating layer 116 having defects be formed while
moisture remaining in the process chamber where the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 139 and the insulating layer 116 having
defects are formed is removed so that hydrogen, hydroxyl, or
moisture should not be included in the oxide semiconductor layer
121, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139, or the
insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0182] The insulating layer 116 having defects may be any
insulating layer having many defects and a silicon oxynitride
layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride layer, or
the like can be used instead of the silicon oxide layer. Further, a
silicon nitride layer, a silicon nitride oxide layer, an aluminum
nitride layer, an aluminum nitride oxide layer, or the like may be
used as the insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0183] Then, heat treatment is performed at 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C., in a state where the insulating layer 116 having
defects and the oxide semiconductor layer 121 are in contact with
each other with the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139
therebetween. This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture
included in the oxide semiconductor layer 121 into the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 and the insulating layer
116 having defects. Since the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
139 is provided between the insulating layer 116 having defects and
the oxide semiconductor layer 121, impurities such as hydrogen,
hydroxyl, or moisture included in the island-shaped oxide
semiconductor layer 121 are diffused from the oxide semiconductor
layer 121 into the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 or into
the insulating layer 116 having defects through the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 139.
[0184] The oxide insulating layer 139, which is provided between
the oxide semiconductor layer 121 and the insulating layer 116
having defects, includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen
dangling bonds as defects and has high binding energy to impurities
such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 facilitates diffusion
and movement of impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or
hydride included in the oxide semiconductor layer 121 into the
insulating layer 116 having defects.
[0185] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer 121 and diffused into the
insulating layer 116 having defects move back toward the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139
functions as a protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to
and stabilizes the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0186] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxide semiconductor layer 121 with reduced
impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 which functions as a barrier layer prevents
the impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer
116 having defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 121
again; thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer 121 can be kept low.
[0187] Then, the protective insulating layer 103 is formed over the
insulating layer 116 having defects. As the protective insulating
layer 103, a silicon nitride layer, a silicon nitride oxide layer,
an aluminum nitride layer, an aluminum nitride oxide layer, or the
like can be used. In this embodiment, as the protective insulating
layer 103, a silicon nitride layer is formed by heating the
substrate 100 over which layers up to the insulating layer 116
having defects are formed, to a temperature of 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C.; introducing a sputtering gas including high-purity
nitrogen from which hydrogen and moisture are removed; and using a
silicon target.
[0188] Impurities such as hydrogen or moisture are removed and the
concentration of those impurities is kept very low in the above
process, whereby generation of a parasitic channel on the back
channel side in a superficial portion of the oxide semiconductor
layer can be suppressed.
[0189] Thus, the thin film transistor 130 including the oxide
semiconductor layer 132 in which the concentration of impurities
such as hydrogen and hydride is reduced can be formed (see FIG.
2D).
[0190] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer due to heat treatment in the steps after being diffused into
the insulating layer 116 having defects, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 139 functioning as a barrier layer prevents the
impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 132. Thus,
the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer 132 can
be kept low.
[0191] In the thin film transistor 130, a channel formation region
can be formed in the oxide semiconductor layer in which the
hydrogen is set equal to or less than 5.times.10.sup.19/cm.sup.3,
preferably equal to or less than 5.times.10.sup.18/cm.sup.3, and
more preferably equal to or less than 5.times.10.sup.17/cm.sup.3;
hydrogen or O--H group in the oxide semiconductor is removed; and
the carrier concentration is equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.14/cm.sup.3, preferably equal to or less than
5.times.10.sup.12/cm.sup.3.
[0192] The energy gap of the oxide semiconductor is set to be equal
to or greater than 2 eV, preferably equal to or greater than 2.5
eV, more preferably equal to or greater than 3 eV to reduce as much
impurities, such as hydrogen which form donors, as possible, and
the carrier concentration of the oxide semiconductor is set to
equal to or less than 1.times.10.sup.14/cm.sup.3, preferably equal
to or less than 1.times.10.sup.12/cm.sup.3.
[0193] When the thus purified oxide semiconductor is used for a
channel formation region of the thin film transistor 130, even in
the case where the channel width is 10 mm, the drain current of
equal to or less than 1.times.10.sup.-13 A is obtained at drain
voltages of 1 V and 10 V and gate voltages in the range of -5 V to
-20 V.
[0194] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 3
[0195] In this embodiment, another example of a thin film
transistor which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed
in this specification will be described.
[0196] A semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof in
this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to
3E.
[0197] FIGS. 3A to 3E illustrate an example of a cross-sectional
structure of a semiconductor device. A thin film transistor 160
illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3E has one type of a bottom-gate
structure called a channel-protective structure (also referred to
as a channel-stop structure) and is also referred to as an inverted
staggered thin film transistor.
[0198] Although the thin film transistor 160 is described as a
single-gate thin film transistor, a multi-gate thin film transistor
including a plurality of channel formation regions can be formed if
needed.
[0199] Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing the thin film
transistor 160 over the substrate 150 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D.
[0200] First, a conductive film is formed over the substrate 150
having an insulating surface, and then the gate electrode layer 151
is formed by a first photolithography step. Note that a resist mask
may be formed by an ink jetting method. The formation of the resist
mask by an ink jetting method does not use a photomask; thus,
manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0201] The gate electrode layer 151 can be formed to have a
single-layer or a stacked-layer structure using a metal material
such as molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, tungsten,
aluminum, copper, neodymium, or scandium, or an alloy material
which includes any of these materials as its main component.
[0202] Then, a gate insulating layer 152 is formed over the gate
electrode layer 151.
[0203] In this embodiment, a silicon oxynitride layer having a
thickness of 100 nm is formed by a plasma CVD method as the gate
insulating layer 152.
[0204] Then, an oxide semiconductor film is formed over the gate
insulating layer 152 and processed into an island-shaped oxide
semiconductor layer 171 by a second photolithography step. In this
embodiment, the oxide semiconductor film is formed by a sputtering
method using an In--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide target.
[0205] The substrate is placed in a process chamber under reduced
pressure, and is heated to a temperature lower than 400.degree. C.
While moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed, a
sputtering gas from which hydrogen and moisture are removed is
introduced to form the oxide semiconductor film over the substrate
150 using metal oxide as a target. In order to remove moisture
remaining in the process chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is
preferably used. For example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a
titanium sublimation pump is preferably used. An evacuation means
may be a turbo pump provided with a cold trap. In the
film-formation chamber which is evacuated with the cryopump,
hydrogen atoms, a compound including a hydrogen atom such as
H.sub.2O, a compound including a carbon atom, and the like are
exhausted. Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in
the oxide semiconductor film formed in this film-formation chamber
can be reduced.
[0206] As an example of film formation conditions, the following
condition is employed: the distance between the substrate and the
target is 100 mm, the pressure is 0.6 Pa, the direct current (DC)
power supply is 0.5 kW, and the atmosphere is an oxygen atmosphere
(the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). A pulse direct current
(DC) power supply is preferable because powder substances (also
referred to as particles or dust) generated in the film formation
can be reduced and the film thickness can be made uniform. The
oxide semiconductor film preferably has a thickness of 5 nm to 30
nm inclusive. Note that an appropriate thickness of the oxide
semiconductor film varies depending on the material; therefore, the
thickness may be determined as appropriate depending on the
material.
[0207] Then, the insulating layer 173 having defects is formed over
the gate insulating layer 152 and the oxide semiconductor layer
171. In the formation of the insulating layer 173 having defects,
the oxygen-excess mixed region 179 is formed between the oxide
semiconductor layer 171 and the insulating layer 173 having defects
(see FIG. 3B).
[0208] The mixed region 179 is a mixed region of materials included
in the oxide semiconductor layer 171 and in the overlying
insulating layer 173 having defects. By providing the mixed region,
an interface between the oxide semiconductor layer 171 and the
insulating layer 173 having defects is not clearly defined; thus,
diffusion of hydrogen from the oxide semiconductor layer into the
insulating layer having defects is facilitated. For example, when a
silicon oxide layer is used as the insulating layer 173 having
defects, the mixed region 179 includes oxygen, silicon, and at
least one of the metal elements included in the oxide semiconductor
layer.
[0209] As in this embodiment, in the case where a silicon oxide is
used for the insulating layer 173 having defects and an
In--Ga--Zn--O-based film is used as the oxide semiconductor, the
mixed region 179 includes oxygen, silicon, and at least one metal
element selected from In, Ga, and Zn.
[0210] The mixed region 179 may have a thickness of 0.1 nm to 30 nm
(preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm). The thickness of the mixed region 179
can be controlled by the film formation conditions of the
sputtering method at the time of forming the insulating layer 173
having defects. If the power supply is set higher and the distance
between the substrate and the target is set shorter in the
sputtering method, the mixed region 179 can be formed thicker. When
the sputtering method is conducted with higher power supply, water
or the like adsorbed on a surface of the oxide semiconductor layer
171 can be removed.
[0211] The provision of the mixed region 179 between the oxide
semiconductor layer 171 and the insulating layer 173 having defects
promotes diffusion of hydrogen atoms, a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O, a compound including a carbon atom,
and the like which are included in the oxide semiconductor layer
171 into the insulating layer 173 having defects, and facilitates
movement thereof.
[0212] The mixed region 179 needs to include excess oxygen and
therefore is formed using a sputtering gas which includes much
oxygen, and after the formation of the mixed region 179, the amount
of oxygen in the sputtering gas may be adjusted for the formation
of the insulating layer 173 having defects.
[0213] The insulating layer 173 having defects may be any
insulating layer having many defects and a silicon oxynitride
layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride layer, or
the like can be used instead of the silicon oxide layer. Further, a
silicon nitride layer, a silicon nitride oxide layer, an aluminum
nitride layer, an aluminum nitride oxide layer, or the like may be
used as the insulating layer 173 having defects.
[0214] In this embodiment, to form an oxygen-excess mixed region
and a silicon oxide layer, the substrate 100 over which layers up
to the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 171 are formed is
heated to room temperature or a temperature lower than 100.degree.
C., a sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from which
hydrogen and moisture are removed is introduced, and a silicon
target is used.
[0215] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the insulating
layer 173 having defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0216] For example, a silicon oxide film is formed by a pulsed DC
sputtering method under the following condition: a boron-doped
silicon target which has a purity of 6N (the resistivity is 0.01
.OMEGA.cm) is used; the distance between the substrate and the
target (T-S distance) is 89 mm; the pressure is 0.4 Pa, the
direct-current (DC) power source is 6 kW, and the atmosphere is
oxygen (the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). The film
thickness is 300 nm. Note that instead of a silicon target, quartz
(preferably, synthetic quartz) can be used as the target for
forming the silicon oxide film. As a sputtering gas, an oxygen gas
or a mixed gas of oxygen and argon is used.
[0217] It is preferable that the mixed region 179 and the
insulating layer 173 having defects be formed while moisture
remaining in the process chamber is removed so that hydrogen,
hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor layer 171, the mixed region 179, or the insulating
layer 173 having defects.
[0218] Note that the mixed region 179 may be formed using silicon
oxynitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, or the like,
instead of silicon oxide.
[0219] Then, heat treatment is performed at 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C., in a state where the insulating layer 173 having
defects and the oxide semiconductor layer 171 are in contact with
each other with the oxygen-excess mixed region 179 therebetween.
This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture included in
the oxide semiconductor layer 171 into the oxygen-excess mixed
region 179 and the insulating layer 173 having defects. Since the
oxygen-excess mixed region 179 is provided between the insulating
layer 173 having defects and the oxide semiconductor layer 171,
impurities such as hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture included in the
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 171 are diffused from the
oxide semiconductor layer 171 into the oxygen-excess mixed region
179 or into the insulating layer 173 having defects through the
oxygen-excess mixed region 179.
[0220] The mixed region 179, which is provided between the oxide
semiconductor layer 171 and the insulating layer 173 having
defects, includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen dangling
bonds as defects and has high binding energy to impurities such as
hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of the
oxygen-excess mixed region 179 facilitates movement and diffusion
impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride
included in the oxide semiconductor layer 171 into the insulating
layer 173 having defects.
[0221] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer 171 and diffused into the
insulating layer 173 having defects move back toward the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess mixed region 179 functions
as a protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to and
stabilizes the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0222] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer, an oxide semiconductor layer 162 with reduced
impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess mixed region
179 which functions as a barrier layer prevents the impurities
which have been diffused into the insulating layer 173 having
defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 162 again;
thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer
162 can be kept low.
[0223] Through the above process, the oxide semiconductor layer 162
in which the concentration of hydrogen and hydride is reduced can
be formed.
[0224] As in Embodiment 2, an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
may be provided instead of the oxygen-excess mixed region. An
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer produces an effect similar to
the effect of the oxygen-excess mixed region.
[0225] A resist mask is formed over the insulating layer 173 having
defects in a third photolithography step, and selective etching is
performed to form an insulating layer 166 having defects. Then, the
resist mask is removed (see FIG. 3C).
[0226] Then, a conductive film is formed over the gate insulating
layer 152, the oxide semiconductor layer 162, and the insulating
layer 166 having defects. After that, by a fourth photolithography
step, a resist mask is formed, and selective etching is performed
to form a source electrode layer 165a and a drain electrode layer
166b. Then, the resist mask is removed.
[0227] As a material of the source electrode layer 165a and the
drain electrode layer 165b, an element selected from Al, Cr, Cu,
Ta, Ti, Mo, and W, an alloy containing any of these elements as a
component, an alloy containing any of these the elements in
combination, or the like can be given. Further, the metal
conductive film may have a single-layer structure or a
stacked-layer structure of two or more layers.
[0228] Through the above process, the thin film transistor 160
including the oxide semiconductor layer 162 in which the
concentration of hydrogen and hydride is reduced can be formed (see
FIG. 3D).
[0229] As described above, by removing remaining moisture in the
reaction atmosphere at the time of the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film, the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in
the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, by
providing the insulating layer having defects over the oxide
semiconductor layer with the oxygen-excess mixed region
therebetween, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture in the oxide
semiconductor layer are diffused into the insulating layer having
defects, whereby the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the
oxide semiconductor layer can be reduced. Accordingly, the oxide
semiconductor layer can be stabilized.
[0230] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer 162 due to heat treatment in the steps after being diffused
into the insulating layer 173 having defects, the oxygen-excess
mixed region 179 functioning as a barrier layer prevents the
impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 162. Thus,
the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer 162 can
be kept low.
[0231] A protective insulating layer may be provided over the
insulating layer having defects. In this embodiment, a protective
insulating layer 153 is formed over the insulating layer 166 having
defects, the source electrode layer 165a, and the drain electrode
layer 165b. As the protective insulating layer 153, a silicon
nitride film, a silicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum nitride
film, or the like can be used. In this embodiment, the protective
insulating layer 153 is formed using a silicon nitride film (see
FIG. 3E).
[0232] Note that an oxide insulating layer may be further formed
over the source electrode layer 165a, the drain electrode layer
165b, and the insulating layer 166 having defects, and the
protective insulating layer 153 may be formed over the oxide
insulating layer. Further, a planarization insulating layer may be
formed over the protective insulating layer 153.
[0233] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
[0234] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 4
[0235] In this embodiment, another example of a thin film
transistor which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed
in this specification will be described.
[0236] A semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof in
this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to
4C.
[0237] Although a thin film transistor 190 is described as a
single-gate thin film transistor, a multi-gate thin film transistor
including a plurality of channel formation regions can be formed if
needed.
[0238] Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing the thin film
transistor 190 over a substrate 140 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C.
[0239] First, a conductive film is formed over the substrate 140
having an insulating surface, and then the gate electrode layer 181
is formed by a first photolithography step. In this embodiment, a
tungsten film having a thickness of 150 nm is formed by a
sputtering method as the gate electrode layer 181.
[0240] Then, a gate insulating layer 142 is formed over the gate
electrode layer 181. In this embodiment, a silicon oxynitride layer
having a thickness of 100 nm is formed by a plasma CVD method as
the gate insulating layer 142.
[0241] Then, a conductive film is formed over the gate insulating
layer 142. By a second photolithography step, a resist mask is
formed over the conductive film, and selective etching is
performed; thus, a source electrode layer 195a and a drain
electrode layer 195b are formed. Then, the resist mask is
removed.
[0242] Then, an oxide semiconductor film is formed and processed
into an island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 141 by a third
photolithography step (see FIG. 4A). In this embodiment, the oxide
semiconductor film is formed by a sputtering method using an
In--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide target.
[0243] The substrate is placed in a process chamber under reduced
pressure, and is heated to a temperature lower than 400.degree. C.
While moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed, a
sputtering gas from which hydrogen and moisture are removed is
introduced to form the oxide semiconductor film over the substrate
140 using metal oxide as a target. In order to remove moisture
remaining in the process chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is
preferably used. For example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a
titanium sublimation pump is preferably used. An evacuation means
may be a turbo pump provided with a cold trap. In the
film-formation chamber which is evacuated with the cryopump,
hydrogen atoms, a compound including a hydrogen atom such as
H.sub.2O, a compound including a carbon atom, and the like are
exhausted. Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in
the oxide semiconductor film formed in this film-formation chamber
can be reduced.
[0244] As an example of film formation conditions, the following
condition is employed: the distance between the substrate and the
target is 100 mm, the pressure is 0.6 Pa, the direct current (DC)
power supply is 0.5 kW, and the atmosphere is an oxygen atmosphere
(the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). A pulse direct current
(DC) power supply is preferable because powder substances (also
referred to as particles or dust) generated in the film formation
can be reduced and the film thickness can be made uniform. The
oxide semiconductor film preferably has a thickness of 5 nm to 30
nm inclusive. Note that an appropriate thickness of the oxide
semiconductor film varies depending on the material; therefore, the
thickness may be determined as appropriate depending on the
material.
[0245] Then, an insulating layer 196 having defects is formed over
the gate insulating layer 142, the oxide semiconductor layer 141,
the source electrode layer 195a, and the drain electrode layer
195b. In the formation of the insulating layer 196 having defects,
the oxygen-excess mixed region 199 is formed between the oxide
semiconductor layer 141 and the insulating layer 196 having
defects.
[0246] The mixed region is a mixed region of materials included in
the oxide semiconductor layer and in the overlying insulating layer
having defects. By providing the mixed region, an interface between
the oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer having
defects is not clearly defined; thus, diffusion of hydrogen from
the oxide semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having
defects is facilitated. For example, when a silicon oxide layer is
used as the insulating layer having defects, the mixed region
includes oxygen, silicon, and at least one of the metal elements
included in the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0247] As in this embodiment, in the case where a silicon oxide is
used for the insulating layer 196 having defects and
In--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide is used as the oxide semiconductor, the
mixed region 199 includes oxygen, silicon, and at least one metal
element selected from In, Ga, and Zn.
[0248] The mixed region 199 may have a thickness of 0.1 nm to 30 nm
(preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm). The thickness of the mixed region 199
can be controlled by the film formation conditions of the
sputtering method at the time of forming the insulating layer 196
having defects. If the power supply is set higher and the distance
between the substrate and the target is set shorter in the
sputtering method, the mixed region 199 can be formed thicker. When
the sputtering method is conducted with higher power supply, water
or the like adsorbed on a surface of the oxide semiconductor layer
141 can be removed.
[0249] The provision of the mixed region 199 between the oxide
semiconductor layer 141 and the insulating layer 196 having defects
promotes diffusion of hydrogen atoms, a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O, a compound including a carbon atom,
and the like which are included in the oxide semiconductor layer
141 into the insulating layer 196 having defects, and facilitates
movement thereof.
[0250] The mixed region 199 needs to include excess oxygen and
therefore is formed using a sputtering gas which includes much
oxygen, and after the formation of the mixed region 199, the amount
of oxygen in the sputtering gas may be adjusted for the formation
of the insulating layer 196 having defects.
[0251] The insulating layer 196 having defects may be any
insulating layer having many defects and a silicon oxynitride
layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride layer, or
the like can be used instead of the silicon oxide layer. Further, a
silicon nitride layer, a silicon nitride oxide layer, an aluminum
nitride layer, an aluminum nitride oxide layer, or the like may be
used as the insulating layer 196 having defects.
[0252] In this embodiment, to form an oxygen-excess mixed region
and a silicon oxide layer, the substrate 140 over which layers up
to the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 141, the source
electrode layer 195a, and the drain electrode layer 195b are formed
is heated to room temperature or a temperature lower than
100.degree. C., a sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from
which hydrogen and moisture are removed is introduced, and a
silicon target is used.
[0253] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the insulating
layer 196 having defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0254] For example, a silicon oxide film is formed by a pulsed DC
sputtering method under the following condition: a boron-doped
silicon target which has a purity of 6N (the resistivity is 0.01
.OMEGA.cm) is used; the distance between the substrate and the
target (T-S distance) is 89 mm; the pressure is 0.4 Pa, the
direct-current (DC) power source is 6 kW, and the atmosphere is
oxygen (the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). The film
thickness is 300 nm. Note that instead of a silicon target, quartz
(preferably, synthetic quartz) can be used as the target for
forming the silicon oxide film. As a sputtering gas, an oxygen gas
or a mixed gas of oxygen and argon is used.
[0255] It is preferable that the mixed region 199 and the
insulating layer 196 having defects be formed while moisture
remaining in the process chamber is removed so that hydrogen,
hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor layer 141, the insulating layer 173 having defects,
or the mixed region 179.
[0256] Note that the mixed region 199 may be formed using silicon
oxynitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, or the like,
instead of silicon oxide.
[0257] Then, the protective insulating layer 183 is formed over the
insulating layer 196 having defects. As the protective insulating
layer 183, a silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride oxide film, an
aluminum nitride film, or the like is used. As the protective
insulating layer 183, a silicon nitride film is formed by heating
the substrate 140 over which layers up to the insulating layer 196
having defects are formed, to a temperature of 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C.; introducing a sputtering gas including high-purity
nitrogen from which hydrogen and moisture are removed; and using a
silicon target.
[0258] In this embodiment, heat treatment at 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C. is performed on the substrate 140 in the formation
of the protective insulating layer 183.
[0259] This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture
included in the oxide semiconductor layer 141 into the
oxygen-excess mixed region 199 and the insulating layer 196 having
defects. Since the oxygen-excess mixed region 199 is provided
between the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer 141 and the
oxide insulating layer 196, impurities such as hydrogen, hydroxyl,
or moisture included in the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer
141 are diffused from the oxide semiconductor layer 141 into the
oxygen-excess mixed region 199 or into the oxide insulating layer
196 through the oxygen-excess mixed region 199.
[0260] The mixed region 199, which is provided between the oxide
semiconductor layer 141 and the insulating layer 196 having
defects, includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen dangling
bonds as defects and has high binding energy to impurities such as
hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of the
oxygen-excess mixed region 199 facilitates diffusion and movement
of impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride
included in the oxide semiconductor layer 141 into the insulating
layer 196 having defects.
[0261] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer 141 and diffused into the
insulating layer 196 having defects move back toward the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess mixed region 199 functions
as a protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to and
stabilizes the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0262] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer, an oxide semiconductor layer 192 with reduced
impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess mixed region
199 which functions as a barrier layer prevents the impurities
which have been diffused into the insulating layer 196 having
defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 192 again;
thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer
192 can be kept low.
[0263] Through the above process, the thin film transistor 190
including the oxide semiconductor layer 192 in which the
concentration of hydrogen and hydride is reduced can be formed (see
FIG. 4C).
[0264] As in Embodiment 2, an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
may be provided instead of the oxygen-excess mixed region. An
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer produces an effect similar to
the effect of the oxygen-excess mixed region.
[0265] As described above, by removing remaining moisture in the
reaction atmosphere at the time of the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film, the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in
the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, by
providing the insulating layer having defects over the oxide
semiconductor layer with the oxygen-excess mixed region
therebetween, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture in the oxide
semiconductor layer are diffused into the insulating layer having
defects, whereby the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the
oxide semiconductor layer can be reduced. Accordingly, the oxide
semiconductor layer can be stabilized.
[0266] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer 192 due to heat treatment in the steps after being diffused
into the insulating layer 196 having defects, the oxygen-excess
mixed region 199 functioning as a barrier layer prevents the
impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 192. Thus,
the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer 192 can
be kept low.
[0267] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
[0268] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 5
[0269] In this embodiment, another example of a thin film
transistor which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed
in this specification will be described. The same portion as or a
portion having a function similar to those in the above embodiment
can be formed in a manner similar to that described in the above
embodiment, and also the steps similar to those in the above
embodiment can be performed in a manner similar to that described
in the above embodiment, and repetitive description is omitted. In
addition, detailed description of the same portions is not
repeated.
[0270] A semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof in
this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to
5E.
[0271] FIGS. 5A to 5E illustrate an example of a cross-sectional
structure of a semiconductor device. A thin film transistor 310
illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5E has one type of a bottom-gate
structure and is also referred to as an inverted staggered thin
film transistor.
[0272] Although the thin film transistor 310 is described as a
single-gate thin film transistor, a multi-gate thin film transistor
including a plurality of channel formation regions can be formed if
needed.
[0273] Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing the thin film
transistor 310 over a substrate 300 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 5A to 5E.
[0274] First, a conductive film is formed over the substrate 300
having an insulating surface, and then a gate electrode layer 311
is formed by a first photolithography step. Note that a resist mask
may be formed by an ink jetting method. The formation of the resist
mask by an ink jetting method does not use a photomask; thus,
manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0275] Although there is no particular limitation on a substrate
which can be used as the substrate 300 having an insulating
surface, it is necessary that the substrate have at least enough
heat resistance to withstand heat treatment performed later. A
glass substrate formed of barium borosilicate glass,
aluminoborosilicate glass or the like can be used.
[0276] As a glass substrate, if the temperature of the heat
treatment to be performed later is high, a glass substrate whose
strain point is 730.degree. C. or higher is preferably used.
[0277] As a glass substrate, a glass material such as
aluminosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, or barium
borosilicate glass is used, for example. Note that by containing a
larger amount of barium oxide (BaO) than boron oxide, a glass
substrate which is heat-resistant and more practical can be
obtained. Therefore, a glass substrate containing more BaO than
B.sub.2O.sub.3 is preferably used.
[0278] Note that a substrate formed of an insulator such as a
ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate may
be used instead of the above glass substrate. Alternatively,
crystallized glass or the like may be used.
[0279] An insulating film functioning as a base film may be
provided between the substrate 300 and the gate electrode layer
311. The base film has a function of preventing diffusion of
impurity elements from the substrate 300, and can be formed to have
a single-layer or stacked-layer structure including one or more of
a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a silicon nitride
oxide layer, and a silicon oxynitride layer.
[0280] The gate electrode layer 311 can be formed to have a
single-layer or a stacked-layer structure using a metal material
such as molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, tungsten,
aluminum, copper, neodymium, or scandium, or an alloy material
which includes any of these materials as its main component.
[0281] For example, as a two-layer structure of the gate electrode
layer 311, a two-layer structure in which a molybdenum layer is
formed over an aluminum layer, a two-layer structure in which a
molybdenum layer is formed over a copper layer, a two-layer
structure in which a titanium nitride layer or a tantalum nitride
layer is formed over a copper layer, a two-layer structure in which
a molybdenum layer is formed over a titanium nitride layer, or a
two-layer structure in which a tungsten layer is formed over a
tungsten nitride layer is preferable. As a three-layer structure, a
stacked-layer structure in which a tungsten layer or a tungsten
nitride layer, a layer of an alloy of aluminum and silicon or alloy
of aluminum and titanium, and a titanium nitride layer or a
titanium layer are stacked is preferable.
[0282] Then, a gate insulating layer 302 is formed over the gate
electrode layer 311.
[0283] The gate insulating layer 302 can be formed to have a
single-layer or a stacked-layer structure including a silicon oxide
layer, a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a
silicon nitride oxide layer, an aluminum oxide layer, or a hafnium
oxide layer by a plasma CVD method, a sputtering method, or the
like. For example, a silicon oxynitride layer may be formed using a
deposition gas containing SiH.sub.4, oxygen, and nitrogen by a
plasma CVD method. The gate insulating layer 302 has a thickness of
100 nm to 500 nm inclusive. In the case of a stacked-layer
structure, the first gate insulating layer with a thickness of 50
nm to 200 nm inclusive and the second gate insulating layer with a
thickness of 5 nm to 300 nm inclusive are stacked in this
order.
[0284] In this embodiment, a silicon oxynitride layer having a
thickness of 100 nm is formed by a plasma CVD method as the gate
insulating layer 302.
[0285] Then, the oxide semiconductor film 330 having a thickness of
2 nm to 200 nm inclusive is formed over the gate insulating layer
302.
[0286] Note that before the oxide semiconductor film 330 is formed
by a sputtering method, dust attached to a surface of the gate
insulating layer 302 is preferably removed by reverse sputtering in
which an argon gas is introduced and plasma is generated. Note that
instead of an argon atmosphere, nitrogen, helium, oxygen, or the
like may be used.
[0287] As the oxide semiconductor film 330, an In--Ga--Zn--O-based
film, an In--Sn--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
In--Al--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
Sn--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
Al--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an
Sn--Al--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In--Zn--O-based
oxide semiconductor film, an Sn--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor
film, an Al--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In--O-based
oxide semiconductor film, an Sn--O-based oxide semiconductor film,
or a Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor film is used. In this
embodiment, the oxide semiconductor film 330 is formed by a
sputtering method using an In--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide target.
A cross-sectional view at this stage is shown in FIG. 5A. Further,
the oxide semiconductor film 330 can be formed by a sputtering
method in a rare gas (typically argon) atmosphere, an oxygen
atmosphere, or an atmosphere of a rare gas (typically argon) and
oxygen. In the case of film formation by a sputtering method, a
target including SiO.sub.2 at 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive may be
used.
[0288] As a target for forming the oxide semiconductor film 330 by
a sputtering method, a metal oxide target including zinc oxide as
its main component can be used. Another example of a metal oxide
target which can be used is a metal oxide target including In, Ga,
and Zn (with a composition ratio of
In.sub.2O.sub.3:Ga.sub.2O.sub.3:ZnO=1:1:1 [molar ratio]). As the
metal oxide target including In, Ga, and Zn, a target having a
composition ratio of In.sub.2O.sub.3:Ga.sub.2O.sub.3:ZnO=1:1:2
[molar ratio] or a target having a composition ratio of
In.sub.2O.sub.3:Ga.sub.2O.sub.3:ZnO=1:1:4 [molar ratio] can be
used. The filling factor of the metal oxide target is 90% to 100%
inclusive, and preferably 95% to 99.9% inclusive. With the use of a
metal oxide target with high filling factor, the formed oxide
semiconductor film has high density.
[0289] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film 330 is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0290] The substrate is placed in a process chamber under reduced
pressure, and the substrate temperature is set to 100.degree. C. to
600.degree. C. inclusive, preferably 200.degree. C. to 400.degree.
C. inclusive. By forming the oxide semiconductor film while the
substrate is heated, the impurity concentration of the formed oxide
semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, damage by
sputtering can be reduced. While moisture remaining in the process
chamber is removed, a sputtering gas from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed is introduced to form the oxide semiconductor
film 330 over the substrate 300 using metal oxide as a target. In
order to remove moisture remaining in the process chamber, a
capture-type vacuum pump is preferably used. For example, a
cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is preferably
used. An evacuation means may be a turbo pump provided with a cold
trap. In the film-formation chamber which is evacuated with the
cryopump, hydrogen atoms and a compound including a hydrogen atom
such as water (H.sub.2O) (and preferably, a compound including a
carbon atom), for example, are exhausted. Accordingly, the
concentration of impurities included in the oxide semiconductor
film formed in this film-formation chamber can be reduced.
[0291] As an example of film formation conditions, the following
condition is employed: the distance between the substrate and the
target is 100 mm, the pressure is 0.6 Pa, the direct current (DC)
power supply is 0.5 kW, and the atmosphere is an oxygen atmosphere
(the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%). A pulse direct current
(DC) power supply is preferable because powder substances (also
referred to as particles or dust) generated in the film formation
can be reduced and the film thickness can be made uniform. The
oxide semiconductor film preferably has a thickness of 5 nm to 30
nm inclusive. Note that an appropriate thickness of the oxide
semiconductor film varies depending on the material; therefore, the
thickness may be determined as appropriate depending on the
material.
[0292] Then, the oxide semiconductor film 330 is processed into an
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer by a second
photolithography step. Note that a resist mask for forming the
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer may be formed by an ink
jetting method. The formation of the resist mask by an ink jetting
method does not use a photomask; thus, manufacturing cost can be
reduced.
[0293] Then, first heat treatment is performed on the oxide
semiconductor layer. By this first heat treatment, dehydration or
dehydrogenation of the oxide semiconductor layer can be performed.
The first heat treatment is performed at a temperature of
400.degree. C. to 750.degree. C. inclusive, preferably, equal to or
greater than 400.degree. C. and lower than a strain point of the
substrate. Here, the substrate is introduced into an electric
furnace which is one of heat treatment apparatuses, and heat
treatment is performed on the oxide semiconductor layer in a
nitrogen atmosphere at 450.degree. C. for one hour. After that, the
oxide semiconductor layer is prevented from being exposed to air
and from again including water or hydrogen; thus the oxide
semiconductor layer 331 is obtained (see FIG. 5B).
[0294] Note that the heat treatment apparatus is not limited to an
electric furnace, and an apparatus may be provided with a device
for heating an object by heat conduction or thermal radiation from
a heater such as a resistance heater. For example, a rapid thermal
annealing (RTA) apparatus such as a gas rapid thermal annealing
(GRTA) apparatus or a lamp rapid thermal annealing (LRTA) apparatus
can be used. An LRTA apparatus is an apparatus with which an object
is heated by radiation of light (an electromagnetic wave) emitted
from a lamp such as a halogen lamp, a metal halide lamp, a xenon
arc lamp, a carbon arc lamp, a high-pressure sodium lamp, or a
high-pressure mercury lamp. A GRTA apparatus is an apparatus for
heat treatment using a high-temperature gas. As the gas, an inert
gas which does not react with the object by heat treatment, for
example, nitrogen or a rare gas such as argon, is used.
[0295] For example, as the first heat treatment, GRTA in which the
substrate is moved into an inert gas heated to a temperature as
high as 650.degree. C. to 700.degree. C., heated for several
minutes, and moved out of the inert gas heated to the high
temperature may be performed. With GRTA, high-temperature heat
treatment for a short period of time can be achieved.
[0296] Note that in the first heat treatment, it is preferable that
moisture, hydrogen, or the like be not contained in nitrogen or a
rare gas such as helium, neon, or argon. Alternatively, nitrogen or
a rare gas such as helium, neon, or argon which is introduced into
a heat treatment apparatus preferably has a purity of 6N (99.9999%)
or higher, more preferably 7N (99.99999%) or higher (that is, the
impurity concentration is 1 ppm or lower, preferably 0.1 ppm or
lower).
[0297] Further, depending on conditions of the first heat treatment
or a material of the oxide semiconductor layer, the oxide
semiconductor layer may be crystallized to be a microcrystalline
film or a polycrystalline film. For example, the oxide
semiconductor layer may crystallize to become a microcrystalline
oxide semiconductor film having a crystallinity of 90% or more, or
80% or more. Further, depending on conditions of the first heat
treatment or a material of the oxide semiconductor layer, the oxide
semiconductor layer may become an amorphous oxide semiconductor
layer containing no crystalline component. The oxide semiconductor
layer may become an oxide semiconductor film in which a
microcrystalline portion (with a grain diameter of 1 nm to 20 nm
inclusive, typically 2 nm to 4 nm inclusive) is mixed into an
amorphous oxide semiconductor.
[0298] The first heat treatment of the oxide semiconductor layer
can be performed on the oxide semiconductor film 330 before being
processed into the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer. In that
case, after the first heat treatment, the substrate is taken out of
the heat treatment apparatus and subjected to the photolithography
step.
[0299] The heat treatment having an effect of dehydration or
dehydrogenation on the oxide semiconductor layer may be performed
at any of the following timings: after the oxide semiconductor
layer is formed; after a source electrode layer and a drain
electrode layer are formed over the oxide semiconductor layer; and
after a protective insulating layer is formed over the source
electrode layer and the drain electrode layer.
[0300] Further, in the case where a contact hole is formed in the
gate insulating layer 302, the formation of the contact hole may be
performed before or after the dehydration or dehydrogenation of the
oxide semiconductor film 330.
[0301] Note that the etching of the oxide semiconductor film is not
limited to wet etching and may be dry etching.
[0302] The etching conditions (such as an etchant, etching time,
and temperature) are adjusted as appropriate depending on the
material so that the film can be etched into the desired shape.
[0303] Then, a conductive film is formed over the gate insulating
layer 302 and the oxide semiconductor layer 331. The conductive
film may be formed by a sputtering method or a vacuum evaporation
method. As a material of the second conductive film, an element
selected from aluminum (Al), chromium (Crz), copper (Cu), tantalum
(Ta), titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W), an alloy
containing any of these elements as a component, an alloy
containing any of these the elements in combination, or the like
can be given. Further, one or more materials selected from
manganese (Mn), magnesium (Mg), zirconium (Zr), beryllium (Be), and
thorium (Th) may be used. Further, the conductive film may have a
single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure of two or more
layers. For example, a single-layer structure of an aluminum film
including silicon, a two-layer structure in which a titanium film
is stacked over an aluminum film, a three-layer structure in which
a titanium film, an aluminum film, and a titanium film are stacked
in this order can be given. Alternatively, a film, an alloy film,
or a nitride film which contains aluminum (Al) and one or a
plurality of elements selected from titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta),
tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), chromium (Cr), neodymium (Nd), and
scandium (Sc) may be used.
[0304] In the case where heat treatment is performed after the
formation of the conductive film, the conductive film preferably
has heat resistance enough to withstand the heat treatment.
[0305] By a third photolithography step, a resist mask is formed
over the conductive film, and selective etching is performed; thus,
a source electrode layer 315a and a drain electrode layer 315b are
formed. Then, the resist mask is removed (see FIG. 5C).
[0306] Ultraviolet, a KrF laser light, or an ArF laser light is
used for light exposure for forming the resist mask in the third
photolithography step. A channel length L of the thin film
transistor to be formed later depends on a width of an interval
between a bottom portion of the source electrode layer and a bottom
portion of the drain electrode layer which are adjacent to each
other over the oxide semiconductor layer 331. Note that when light
exposure is performed for the channel length L of less than 25 nm,
extreme ultraviolet with extremely short wavelengths of several
nanometers to several tens of nanometers is used for light exposure
for forming the resist mask in the third photolithography step.
Light exposure with extreme ultraviolet leads to a high resolution
and a large depth of field. Accordingly, the channel length L of
the thin film transistor to be formed later can be set to 10 nm to
1000 nm inclusive. Thus, the operation speed of a circuit can be
increased, and low power consumption can be achieved due to
extremely small off-state current.
[0307] Note that each material and etching conditions are adjusted
as appropriate so that the oxide semiconductor layer 331 should not
removed by etching of the conductive film.
[0308] In this embodiment, a Ti film is used as the conductive
film, an In--Ga--Zn--O-based oxide semiconductor is used as the
oxide semiconductor layer 331, and an ammonia hydrogen peroxide (a
mixture of ammonia, water, and hydrogen peroxide) is used as an
etchant.
[0309] Note that in the third photolithography step, the oxide
semiconductor layer 331 may be partly etched in some cases to be an
oxide semiconductor layer having a groove (a depression portion). A
resist mask for forming the source electrode layer 315a and the
drain electrode layer 315b may be formed by an ink jetting method.
The formation of the resist mask by an ink jetting method does not
use a photomask; thus, manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0310] Further, an oxide conductive layer may be formed between the
oxide semiconductor layer 331 and the source electrode layer 315a
and the drain electrode layer 315b. The oxide conductive layer and
the metal layer for forming the source and drain electrode layers
can be formed successively. The oxide conductive layer can function
as a source region and a drain region.
[0311] When the oxide conductive layer is provided as the source
region or the drain region between the oxide semiconductor layer
331 and the source electrode layer 315a or the drain electrode
layer 315b, the source region and the drain region can have lower
resistance and the transistor can operate at high speed.
[0312] Further, in order to reduce the number of photomasks used in
the photolithography steps and reduce the number of
photolithography steps, an etching step may be performed with the
use of a multi-tone mask which is a light-exposure mask through
which light is transmitted to have a plurality of intensities. A
resist mask formed using a multi-tone mask has a plurality of
thicknesses and further can be changed in shape by being etched,
and therefore, can be used in a plurality of etching steps to
provide different patterns. Therefore, a resist mask corresponding
to at least two kinds of different patterns can be formed using one
multi-tone mask. Thus, the number of light-exposure masks can be
reduced and the number of corresponding photolithography steps can
also be reduced, whereby simplification of the process can be
realized.
[0313] Then, plasma treatment using a gas such as N.sub.2O,
N.sub.2, or Ar is performed. By this plasma treatment, adsorbed
water or the like of an exposed surface of the oxide semiconductor
layer is removed. Plasma treatment may be performed using a mixed
gas of oxygen and argon.
[0314] Then, an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 is formed
over the gate insulating layer 302, the oxide semiconductor layer
331, the source electrode layer 315a, and the drain electrode layer
315b. In this embodiment, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
319 is formed to be in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer
331 in a region where the oxide semiconductor layer 331 does not
overlap with the source electrode layer 315a or the drain electrode
layer 315b.
[0315] In this embodiment, to form a silicon oxide layer
(SiO.sub.2+x, where x is preferably equal to or greater than 0 and
less than 3) as the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319, the
substrate 300 over which layers up to the source electrode layer
315a and the drain electrode layer 315b are formed is heated to
room temperature or a temperature lower than 100.degree. C., a
sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed is introduced, and a silicon target is used.
The thickness of the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 may
be 0.1 nm to 30 nm (preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm).
[0316] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 319 is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0317] For example, a silicon oxide layer is formed by a pulsed DC
sputtering method under the following condition: a boron-doped
silicon target which has a purity of 6N (the resistivity is 0.01
.OMEGA.cm) is used; the distance between the substrate and the
target (T-S distance) is 89 mm; the pressure is 0.4 Pa, the
direct-current (DC) power source is 6 kW, and the atmosphere is
oxygen (the proportion of the oxygen flow is 100%).
[0318] Note that instead of a silicon target, quartz (preferably,
synthetic quartz) can be used as the target for forming the silicon
oxide layer. As a sputtering gas, an oxygen gas or a mixed gas of
oxygen and argon is used.
[0319] Note that instead of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon
oxynitride layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride
layer, or the like can be used as the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 319.
[0320] Then an insulating layer 316 having defects is formed over
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 without exposure to
air. The oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 and the
insulating layer 316 having defects may be formed in the same
process chamber using the same target.
[0321] In this embodiment, a 200-nm-thick silicon oxide layer is
formed as the insulating layer 316 having defects by a sputtering
method. The substrate temperature in film formation may be room
temperature to 300.degree. C. inclusive. In this embodiment, the
substrate temperature is 100.degree. C. Formation of a silicon
oxide film by a sputtering method can be performed in a rare gas
(typically, argon) atmosphere, an oxygen atmosphere, or an
atmosphere of a rare gas (typically, argon) and oxygen. As a
target, a silicon oxide target or a silicon target can be used. For
example, a silicon oxide layer can be formed by a sputtering method
in an atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen using a silicon target.
[0322] The insulating layer 316 having defects may be any
insulating layer having many defects, but is preferably an
inorganic insulating film which does not include impurities such as
moisture, hydrogen ions, or OH.sup.- and which prevents the entry
of them from the outside. Instead of the silicon oxide layer, a
silicon oxynitride layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum
oxynitride layer, or the like can be typically used. Further, a
silicon nitride layer, a silicon nitride oxide layer, an aluminum
nitride layer, an aluminum nitride oxide layer, or the like may be
used as the insulating layer 316 having defects.
[0323] It is preferable that the insulating layer 316 having
defects be formed while moisture remaining in the process chamber
is removed so that hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture should not be
included in the oxide semiconductor layer 331 or the insulating
layer 316 having defects.
[0324] In order to remove moisture remaining in the process
chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is preferably used. For
example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is
preferably used. An evacuation means may be a turbo pump provided
with a cold trap. In the film-formation chamber which is evacuated
with the cryopump, hydrogen atoms and a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as water (H.sub.2O), for example, are exhausted.
Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in the
insulating layer 316 having defects formed in this film-formation
chamber can be reduced.
[0325] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the insulating
layer 316 having defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0326] Then, second heat treatment (preferably, at 200.degree. C.
to 400.degree. C. inclusive, for example, at 250.degree. C. to
350.degree. C. inclusive) is performed in an inert gas atmosphere
or in an oxygen gas atmosphere. For example, the second heat
treatment is performed at 250.degree. C. for one hour in a nitrogen
atmosphere. In the second heat treatment, a portion of the oxide
semiconductor layer (a channel formation region) is heated while
being in contact with the oxide insulating layer 319.
[0327] This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture
included in the oxide semiconductor layer 331 into the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 and the insulating layer
316 having defects. Since the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
319 is provided between the oxide semiconductor layer 331 and the
insulating layer 316 having defects, impurities such as hydrogen,
hydroxyl, or moisture included in the island-shaped oxide
semiconductor layer 331 are diffused from the oxide semiconductor
layer 331 into the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 or into
the insulating layer 316 having defects through the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 319.
[0328] The oxide insulating layer 319, which is provided between
the oxide semiconductor layer 331 and the insulating layer 316
having defects, includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen
dangling bonds as defects and has high binding energy to impurities
such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319 facilitates diffusion
and movement of impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or
hydride included in the oxide semiconductor layer 331 into the
insulating layer 316 having defects.
[0329] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer 331 and diffused into the
insulating layer 316 having defects move back toward the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 319
functions as a protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to
and stabilizes the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer.
[0330] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer, an oxide semiconductor layer 312 with reduced
impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 319 which functions as a barrier layer prevents
the impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer
316 having defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer
again; thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer 312 can be kept low.
[0331] Note that the heat treatment for diffusion of impurities
such as hydrogen from the oxide semiconductor layer into the
insulating layer having defects is not necessarily combined with
the second heat treatment and may be performed separately.
[0332] In the above steps, the heat treatment for dehydration or
dehydrogenation is performed on the formed oxide semiconductor
film, whereby the oxide semiconductor film is brought into an
oxygen-deficient state and reduced in resistance that is, becomes
an n-type layer, and then the oxide insulating layer is formed in
contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, which brings part of
the oxide semiconductor layer into an oxygen-excess state. As a
result, the channel formation region 313 which overlaps with the
gate electrode layer 311 becomes an i-type region. At that time, a
high-resistance source region 314a which has a carrier
concentration higher than at least the channel formation region 313
and overlaps with the source electrode layer 315a, and a
high-resistance drain region 314b which has a carrier concentration
higher than at least the channel formation region 313 and overlaps
with the drain electrode layer 315b are formed in a self-aligned
manner. Through the above steps, the thin film transistor 310 is
formed (see FIG. 5D).
[0333] Although an example in which an oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer is formed is described in this embodiment, an
oxygen-excess mixed region may be provided instead of the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer as in Embodiment 1. An
oxygen-excess mixed region produces an effect similar to the effect
of the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer.
[0334] Heat treatment may be further performed at 100.degree. C. to
200.degree. C. inclusive in air for 1 hour to 30 hours inclusive.
In this embodiment, the heat treatment is performed at 150.degree.
C. for 10 hours. This heat treatment may be performed at a fixed
heating temperature. Alternatively, the following change in the
heating temperature may be conducted plural times repeatedly: the
heating temperature is increased from room temperature to a
temperature of 100.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. inclusive and then
decreased to room temperature. Further, this heat treatment may be
performed under reduced pressure before the formation of the
insulating layer having defects. Under reduced pressure, the heat
treatment time can be shortened. With this heat treatment, hydrogen
is introduced from the oxide semiconductor layer to the insulating
layer having defects; thus, a normally-off thin film transistor can
be obtained. Accordingly, the reliability of the semiconductor
device can be improved.
[0335] By forming the high-resistance drain region 314b (or the
high-resistance source region 314a) in part of the oxide
semiconductor layer which overlaps with the drain electrode layer
315b (or the source electrode layer 315a), the reliability of the
thin film transistor can be improved. Specifically, by forming the
high-resistance drain region 314b, the conductivity can vary
stepwise from the drain electrode layer 315b to the high-resistance
drain region 314b and the channel formation region 313. Therefore,
in the case where the thin film transistor operates with the drain
electrode layer 315b connected to a wiring for supplying a high
power supply potential VDD, the high-resistance drain region
functions as a buffer and a high electric field is not applied
locally even if a high electric field is applied between the gate
electrode layer 311 and the drain electrode layer 315b; thus, the
breakdown voltage of the transistor can be improved.
[0336] Further, the high-resistance source region or the
high-resistance drain region in the oxide semiconductor layer is
formed in the entire thickness direction in the case where the
thickness of the oxide semiconductor layer is equal to or less than
15 nm. In the case where the thickness of the oxide semiconductor
layer is as thick as 30 nm to 50 nm inclusive, in part of the oxide
semiconductor layer, that is, in a region in the oxide
semiconductor layer which is in contact with the source electrode
layer or the drain electrode layer and the vicinity thereof,
resistance is reduced and a high-resistance source region or a
high-resistance drain region is formed, while a region in the oxide
semiconductor layer which is close to the gate insulating film can
be made to be an i-type region.
[0337] A protective insulating layer may be additionally provided
over the insulating layer 316 having defects. For example, a
silicon nitride film is formed by an RF sputtering method. Since an
RF sputtering method has high productivity, it is preferably used
as a film formation method of the protective insulating layer. The
protective insulating layer is formed using an inorganic insulating
film which does not include impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen
ion, and OW and which prevents the entry of them from the outside;
for example, a silicon nitride film, an aluminum nitride film, a
silicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum nitride oxide film, or the
like is used. In this embodiment, the protective insulating layer
303 is formed as the protective insulating layer using a silicon
nitride film (see FIG. 5E).
[0338] In this embodiment, as the protective insulating layer 303,
a silicon nitride film is formed by heating the substrate 300 over
which layers up to the insulating layer 316 having defects are
formed, to a temperature of 100.degree. C. to 400.degree. C.;
introducing a sputtering gas including high-purity nitrogen from
which hydrogen and moisture are removed; and using a silicon
target. In this step also, it is preferable that the protective
insulating layer 303 be formed while moisture remaining in the
process chamber is removed as in the case of the insulating layer
316 having defects.
[0339] A planarization insulating layer for planarization may be
provided over the protective insulating layer 303.
[0340] As described above, by removing remaining moisture in the
reaction atmosphere at the time of the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film, the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in
the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, by
providing the insulating layer having defects over the oxide
semiconductor layer with the oxygen-excess mixed region
therebetween, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture in the oxide
semiconductor layer are diffused into the insulating layer having
defects, whereby the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the
oxide semiconductor layer can be reduced. Accordingly, the oxide
semiconductor layer can be stabilized.
[0341] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer 312 due to heat treatment in the steps after being diffused
into the insulating layer 316 having defects, the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 319 functioning as a barrier layer prevents
the impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 312.
Thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer
312 can be kept low.
[0342] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
[0343] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 6
[0344] In this embodiment, another example of a thin film
transistor which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed
in this specification will be described. The same portion as or a
portion having a function similar to those in the above embodiment
can be formed in a manner similar to that described in the above
embodiment, and also the steps similar to those in the above
embodiment can be performed in a manner similar to that described
in the above embodiment, and repetitive description is omitted. In
addition, detailed description of the same portions is not
repeated.
[0345] A semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof in
this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to
6D.
[0346] FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate an example of a cross-sectional
structure of a semiconductor device. A thin film transistor 360
illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6D has one type of a bottom-gate
structure called a channel-protective structure (also referred to
as a channel-stop structure) and is also referred to as an inverted
staggered thin film transistor.
[0347] Although the thin film transistor 360 is described as a
single-gate thin film transistor, a multi-gate thin film transistor
including a plurality of channel formation regions can be formed if
needed.
[0348] Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing the thin film
transistor 360 over a substrate 320 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 6A to 6D.
[0349] First, a conductive film is formed over the substrate 320
having an insulating surface, and then the gate electrode layer 361
is formed by a first photolithography step. Note that a resist mask
may be formed by an ink jetting method. The formation of the resist
mask by an ink jetting method does not use a photomask; thus,
manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0350] The gate electrode layer 361 can be formed to have a
single-layer or a stacked-layer structure using a metal material
such as molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, tungsten,
aluminum, copper, neodymium, or scandium, or an alloy material
which includes any of these materials as its main component.
[0351] Then, a gate insulating layer 322 is formed over the gate
electrode layer 361.
[0352] In this embodiment, a silicon oxynitride layer having a
thickness of 100 nm is formed by a plasma CVD method as the gate
insulating layer 322.
[0353] Then, an oxide semiconductor film having a thickness of 2 nm
to 200 nm inclusive is formed over the gate insulating layer 322
and processed into an island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer by a
second photolithography step. In this embodiment, the oxide
semiconductor film is formed by a sputtering method using an
In--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide target.
[0354] It is preferable that oxide semiconductor film be formed
while moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed so that
hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor film.
[0355] In order to remove moisture remaining in the process
chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is preferably used. For
example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is
preferably used. An evacuation means may be a turbo pump provided
with a cold trap. In the film-formation chamber which is evacuated
with the cryopump, hydrogen atoms and a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as water (H.sub.2O), for example, are exhausted.
Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in the oxide
semiconductor film formed in this film-formation chamber can be
reduced.
[0356] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0357] Then, dehydration or dehydrogenation of the oxide
semiconductor layer is performed. The temperature of first heat
treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation is 400.degree. C. to
750.degree. C. inclusive, preferably, equal to or greater than
400.degree. C. and lower than a strain point of the substrate.
Here, the substrate is introduced into an electric furnace which is
one of heat treatment apparatuses, and heat treatment is performed
on the oxide semiconductor layer in a nitrogen atmosphere at
450.degree. C. for one hour. After that, the oxide semiconductor
layer is prevented from being exposed to air and from again
including water or hydrogen; thus the oxide semiconductor layer 332
is obtained (see FIG. 6A).
[0358] Then, plasma treatment using a gas such as N.sub.2O,
N.sub.2, or Ar is performed. By this plasma treatment, adsorbed
water or the like of an exposed surface of the oxide semiconductor
layer is removed. Plasma treatment may be performed using a mixed
gas of oxygen and argon.
[0359] Then, an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer is formed over
the gate insulating layer 322 and the oxide semiconductor layer
332.
[0360] In this embodiment, a silicon oxide layer (SiO.sub.2+x,
where x is preferably equal to or greater than 0 and less than 3)
is formed as an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 369 using a
sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed and a silicon target. The thickness of the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer may be 0.1 nm to 30 nm
(preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm).
[0361] Note that instead of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon
oxynitride layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride
layer, or the like can be used as the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer.
[0362] Then an insulating layer having defects is formed over the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer without exposure to air. The
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer and the insulating layer
having defects may be formed in the same process chamber using the
same target.
[0363] In this embodiment, a 200-nm-thick silicon oxide layer is
formed as the insulating layer having defects by a sputtering
method.
[0364] It is preferable that the oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer and the insulating layer having defects be formed while
moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed so that
hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor layer 332, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer,
or the insulating layer 366 having defects.
[0365] In order to remove moisture remaining in the process
chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is preferably used. For
example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is
preferably used. An evacuation means may be a turbo pump provided
with a cold trap. In the film-formation chamber which is evacuated
with the cryopump, hydrogen atoms and a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as water (H.sub.2O), for example, are exhausted.
Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in the
insulating layer 366 having defects formed in this film-formation
chamber can be reduced.
[0366] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer and the insulating layer having defects is
preferably a high-purity gas in which impurities such as hydrogen,
water, hydroxyl, or hydride are reduced to such a degree that the
concentration thereof can be expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0367] Then, heat treatment is performed at 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C., in a state where the insulating layer having
defects and the oxide semiconductor layer are in contact with each
other with the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer therebetween.
This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture included in
the oxide semiconductor layer 332 into the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer and the insulating layer having defects. Since the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer is provided between the
insulating layer having defects and the oxide semiconductor layer,
impurities such as hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture included in the
island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer are diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
or into the insulating layer having defects through the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer.
[0368] The oxide insulating layer, which is provided between the
oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer having defects,
includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen dangling bonds as
defects and has high binding energy to impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer facilitates diffusion and movement of
impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride
included in the oxide semiconductor layer into the insulating layer
having defects.
[0369] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer and diffused into the insulating
layer having defects move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer functions as a
protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to and stabilizes
the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from entering the
oxide semiconductor layer.
[0370] By a third photolithography step, a resist mask is formed
over the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer and the insulating
layer having defects, and selective etching is performed; thus, the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 369 and the insulating layer
366 having defects are formed. Then, the resist mask is
removed.
[0371] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer, an oxide semiconductor layer 362 with reduced
impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 369 which functions as a barrier layer prevents
the impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer
366 having defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer
again; thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer 362 can be kept low.
[0372] Although an example in which an oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer is formed is described in this embodiment, an
oxygen-excess mixed region may be provided instead of the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer as in Embodiment 1 or 3. The
oxygen-excess mixed region produces an effect similar to the effect
of the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer.
[0373] Then, second heat treatment (preferably, at 200.degree. C.
to 400.degree. C. inclusive, for example, at 250.degree. C. to
350.degree. C. inclusive) may be performed in an inert gas
atmosphere or in an oxygen gas atmosphere. For example, the second
heat treatment is performed at 250.degree. C. for one hour in a
nitrogen atmosphere. In the second heat treatment, a portion of the
oxide semiconductor layer (a channel formation region) is heated
while being in contact with the oxide insulating layer 369. Note
that the heat treatment for diffusion of impurities such as
hydrogen from the oxide semiconductor layer into the insulating
layer having defects may be combined with the second heat
treatment.
[0374] In this embodiment, the oxide semiconductor layer over which
the oxide insulating layer 369 and the insulating layer 366 having
defects are formed and which is partly exposed is further subjected
to heat treatment in nitrogen or an inert gas atmosphere, or under
reduced pressure. By the heat treatment in nitrogen or an inert gas
atmosphere, or under reduced pressure, an exposed region of the
oxide semiconductor layer which is not covered with the oxide
insulating layer 369 or the insulating layer 366 having defects is
brought into an oxygen-deficient state and reduced in resistance,
that is, the exposed region can be an n-type region. For example,
the heat treatment is performed at 250.degree. C. for one hour in a
nitrogen atmosphere.
[0375] By the heat treatment on the oxide semiconductor layer 332
over which the oxide insulating layer 369 and the insulating layer
366 having defects are formed in a nitrogen atmosphere, the
resistance of the exposed region of the oxide semiconductor layer
is reduced; thus, an oxide semiconductor layer 362 including
regions with different resistances (indicated as a shaded region
and a white region in FIG. 6B) is formed.
[0376] Then, a conductive film is formed over the gate insulating
layer 322, the oxide semiconductor layer 362, the oxide insulating
layer 369, and the insulating layer 366 having defects. After that,
by a fourth photolithography step, a resist mask is formed, and
selective etching is performed to form a source electrode layer
365a and a drain electrode layer 365b. Then, the resist mask is
removed (see FIG. 6C).
[0377] As a material of the source electrode layer 365a and the
drain electrode layer 365b, an element selected from Al, Cr, Cu,
Ta, Ti, Mo, and W, an alloy containing any of these elements as a
component, an alloy containing any of these the elements in
combination, or the like can be given. Further, the metal
conductive film may have a single-layer structure or a
stacked-layer structure of two or more layers.
[0378] In the above steps, the heat treatment for dehydration or
dehydrogenation is performed on the formed oxide semiconductor
film, whereby the oxide semiconductor film is brought into an
oxygen-deficient state and reduced in resistance, and then the
oxide insulating layer is formed in contact with the oxide
semiconductor film, which selectively brings part of the oxide
semiconductor film into an oxygen-excess state. As a result, the
channel formation region 363 which overlaps with the gate electrode
layer 361 becomes an i-type region. At that time, a source region
364a which has lower resistance than the channel formation region
363 and overlaps with the source electrode layer 365a, and a drain
region 364b which has lower resistance than the channel formation
region 363 and overlaps with the drain electrode layer 365b are
formed in a self-aligned manner. Through the above steps, the thin
film transistor 360 is formed.
[0379] Heat treatment may be further performed at 100.degree. C. to
200.degree. C. inclusive in air for 1 hour to 30 hours inclusive.
In this embodiment, the heat treatment is performed at 150.degree.
C. for 10 hours. This heat treatment may be performed at a fixed
heating temperature. Alternatively, the following change in the
heating temperature may be conducted plural times repeatedly: the
heating temperature is increased from room temperature to a
temperature of 100.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. inclusive and then
decreased to room temperature. Further, this heat treatment may be
performed under reduced pressure before the formation of the oxide
insulating film. Under reduced pressure, the heat treatment time
can be shortened. With this heat treatment, hydrogen is introduced
from the oxide semiconductor layer to the insulating layer having
defects; thus, a normally-off thin film transistor can be obtained.
Accordingly, the reliability of the semiconductor device can be
improved.
[0380] By forming the high-resistance drain region 364b (or the
high-resistance source region 364a) which overlaps with the drain
electrode layer 365b (or the source electrode layer 365a) in the
oxide semiconductor layer, the reliability of the thin film
transistor can be improved. Specifically, by forming the
high-resistance drain region 364b, the conductivity can vary
stepwise from the drain electrode layer to the high-resistance
drain region 364b and the channel formation region 363. Therefore,
in the case where the thin film transistor operates with the drain
electrode layer 365b connected to a wiring for supplying a high
power supply potential VDD, the high-resistance drain region
functions as a buffer and a high electric field is not applied
locally even if a high electric field is applied between the gate
electrode layer 361 and the drain electrode layer 365b; thus, the
breakdown voltage of the transistor can be improved.
[0381] A protective insulating layer 323 is formed over the source
electrode layer 365a, drain electrode layer 365b, the oxide
insulating layer 369, and the insulating layer 366 having defects.
In this embodiment, the protective insulating layer 323 is formed
using a silicon nitride layer (see FIG. 6D).
[0382] Note that an oxide insulating layer may be further formed
over the source electrode layer 365a, the drain electrode layer
365b, the oxide insulating layer 369, and the insulating layer 366
having defects, and the protective insulating layer 323 may be
formed over the oxide insulating layer.
[0383] As described above, by removing remaining moisture in the
reaction atmosphere at the time of the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film, the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in
the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, by
providing the insulating layer having defects over the oxide
semiconductor layer with the oxygen-excess mixed region
therebetween, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture in the oxide
semiconductor layer are diffused into the insulating layer having
defects, whereby the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the
oxide semiconductor layer can be reduced. Accordingly, the oxide
semiconductor layer can be stabilized.
[0384] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer 362 due to heat treatment in the steps after being diffused
into the insulating layer 366 having defects, the oxide insulating
layer 369 functioning as a barrier layer prevents the impurities
from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 362. Thus, the impurity
concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer 362 can be kept
low.
[0385] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
[0386] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 7
[0387] In this embodiment, another example of a thin film
transistor which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed
in this specification will be described. A thin film transistor 380
in this embodiment can be used as the thin film transistor 110 in
Embodiment 1.
[0388] In this embodiment, FIG. 7 shows an example of a thin film
transistor whose manufacturing process is partly different from
that of Embodiment 5. FIG. 7 is the same as FIGS. 5A to 5E except
for part of the steps. Thus, the same parts as in FIGS. 5A to 5E
are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description
on the parts is omitted.
[0389] In accordance with Embodiment 5, a gate electrode layer 381
is formed over a substrate 370, and a first gate insulating layer
372a and a second gate insulating layer 372b are stacked. In this
embodiment, the gate insulating layer has a two-layer structure: a
nitride insulating layer is used as the first gate insulating layer
372a and an oxide insulating layer is used as the second gate
insulating layer 372b.
[0390] As the oxide insulating layer, a silicon oxide layer, a
silicon oxynitride layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum
oxynitride layer, a hafnium oxide layer or the like can be used. As
the nitride insulating layer, a silicon nitride layer, a silicon
nitride oxide layer, an aluminum nitride layer, an aluminum nitride
oxide layer, or the like can be used.
[0391] In this embodiment, a silicon nitride layer and a silicon
oxide layer are stacked over the gate electrode layer 381 in this
order. A gate insulating layer having a thickness of 150 nm is
formed in such a manner that a silicon nitride layer (SiN.sub.y
(y>0)) having a thickness of 50 nm to 200 nm inclusive (in this
embodiment, 50 nm) is formed by a sputtering method as a first gate
insulating layer 372a, and then a silicon oxide layer (SiO.sub.x
(x>0)) having a thickness of 5 nm to 300 nm (in this embodiment,
100 nm) inclusive is formed as a second gate insulating layer 372b
over the first gate insulating layer 372a.
[0392] Then, an oxide semiconductor film is formed and processed
into an island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer by a
photolithography step. In this embodiment, the oxide semiconductor
film is formed by a sputtering method using an In--Ga--Zn--O-based
metal oxide target.
[0393] It is preferable that oxide semiconductor film be formed
while moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed so that
hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor film.
[0394] In order to remove moisture remaining in the process
chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is preferably used. For
example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is
preferably used. An evacuation means may be a turbo pump provided
with a cold trap. In the film-formation chamber which is evacuated
with the cryopump, hydrogen atoms, a compound including a hydrogen
atom such as water (H.sub.2O), and the like are exhausted.
Accordingly, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
film formed in this film-formation chamber can be reduced.
[0395] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film is preferably a high-purity gas in which
impurities such as hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are
reduced to such a degree that the concentration thereof can be
expressed by the unit ppm or ppb.
[0396] Then, dehydration or dehydrogenation of the oxide
semiconductor layer is performed. The temperature of first heat
treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation is 400.degree. C. to
750.degree. C. inclusive, preferably, equal to or greater than
425.degree. C. and lower than a strain point of the substrate. Note
that in the case of the temperature of equal to or greater than
425.degree. C., the heat treatment time may be one hour or shorter,
whereas in the case of the temperature lower than 425.degree. C.,
the heat treatment time is longer than one hour. Here, the
substrate is introduced into an electric furnace which is one of
heat treatment apparatuses, and heat treatment is performed on the
oxide semiconductor layer in a nitrogen atmosphere. After that, the
oxide semiconductor layer is prevented from being exposed to air
and from again including water or hydrogen. After that, a
high-purity oxygen gas, a high-purity N.sub.2O gas, or an ultra-dry
air (with a dew point of equal to or less than -40.degree. C.,
preferably equal to or less than -60.degree. C.) is introduced into
the same furnace and cooling is performed. It is preferable that
the oxygen gas and the N.sub.2O gas do not include water, hydrogen,
or the like. Alternatively, the oxygen gas or the N.sub.2O gas
which is introduced into the heat treatment apparatus preferably
has a purity of 6N (99.9999%) or higher, more preferably 7N
(99.99999%) or higher (that is, the impurity concentration of the
oxygen gas or the N.sub.2O gas is 1 ppm or lower, preferably 0.1
ppm or lower).
[0397] Note that the heat treatment apparatus is not limited to an
electric furnace. For example, a rapid thermal annealing (RTA)
apparatus such as a gas rapid thermal annealing (GRTA) apparatus or
a lamp rapid thermal annealing (LRTA) apparatus can be used. An
LRTA apparatus is an apparatus with which an object is heated by
radiation of light (an electromagnetic wave) emitted from a lamp
such as a halogen lamp, a metal halide lamp, a xenon arc lamp, a
carbon arc lamp, a high-pressure sodium lamp, or a high-pressure
mercury lamp. In addition, the LRTA apparatus may be provided with
not only a lamp but also a device which heats an object by heat
conduction or heat radiation from a heater such as a resistance
heater. GRTA is a method of heat treatment using a high-temperature
gas. As the gas, an inert gas which does not react with the object
by heat treatment, for example, nitrogen or a rare gas such as
argon, is used. The heat treatment may be performed at 600.degree.
C. to 750.degree. C. for several minutes by an RTA method.
[0398] Further, after the first heat treatment for dehydration or
dehydrogenation, heat treatment may be performed at 200.degree. C.
to 400.degree. C. inclusive, preferably 200.degree. C. to
300.degree. C. inclusive, in an atmosphere of an oxygen gas or an
N.sub.2O gas.
[0399] The first heat treatment of the oxide semiconductor layer
can be performed on the oxide semiconductor film before being
processed into the island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer. In that
case, after the first heat treatment, the substrate is taken out of
the heat treatment apparatus and subjected to the photolithography
step.
[0400] Through the above process, the entire oxide semiconductor
film is placed in an oxygen-excess state to have higher resistance,
that is, to be an i-type oxide semiconductor film. Thus, an oxide
semiconductor layer 382 whose entire region is i-type is
formed.
[0401] Then, by a photolithography step, a resist mask is formed
over the oxide semiconductor layer 382, and selective etching is
performed to form a source electrode layer 385a and a drain
electrode layer 385b.
[0402] In this embodiment, a silicon oxide layer (SiO.sub.2+x,
where x is preferably equal to or greater than 0 and less than 3)
is formed as an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 using a
sputtering gas including high-purity oxygen from which hydrogen and
moisture are removed and a silicon target. The thickness of the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 may be 0.1 nm to 30 nm
(preferably, 2 nm to 10 nm).
[0403] Note that instead of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon
oxynitride layer, an aluminum oxide layer, an aluminum oxynitride
layer, or the like can be used as the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 389.
[0404] Then an insulating layer 386 having defects is formed over
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 without exposure to
air. The oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 and the
insulating layer 386 having defects may be formed in the same
process chamber using the same target.
[0405] In this embodiment, a 200-nm-thick silicon oxide layer is
formed as the insulating layer 386 having defects by a sputtering
method.
[0406] It is preferable that the oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer 389 and the insulating layer 386 having defects be formed
while moisture remaining in the process chamber is removed so that
hydrogen, hydroxyl, or moisture should not be included in the oxide
semiconductor layer 382, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer
389, or the insulating layer 386 having defects.
[0407] In order to remove moisture remaining in the process
chamber, a capture-type vacuum pump is preferably used. For
example, a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is
preferably used. An evacuation means may be a turbo pump provided
with a cold trap. In the film-formation chamber which is evacuated
with the cryopump, hydrogen atoms and a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as water (H.sub.2O), for example, are exhausted.
Accordingly, the concentration of impurities included in the
insulating layer 386 having defects formed in this film-formation
chamber can be reduced.
[0408] A sputtering gas used in the formation of the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 389 and the insulating layer 386 having
defects is preferably a high-purity gas in which impurities such as
hydrogen, water, hydroxyl, or hydride are reduced to such a degree
that the concentration thereof can be expressed by the unit ppm or
ppb.
[0409] Then, heat treatment is performed at 100.degree. C. to
400.degree. C., in a state where the insulating layer 386 having
defects and the oxide semiconductor layer are in contact with each
other with the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389
therebetween. This heat treatment can diffuse hydrogen or moisture
included in the oxide semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 389 and the insulating layer 386 having
defects. Since the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 is
provided between the insulating layer 386 having defects and the
oxide semiconductor layer 382, impurities such as hydrogen,
hydroxyl, or moisture included in the island-shaped oxide
semiconductor layer are diffused from the oxide semiconductor layer
into the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 or into the
insulating layer 386 having defects through the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 389.
[0410] The oxide insulating layer 389, which is provided between
the oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer 386 having
defects, includes excess oxygen, and thus has many oxygen dangling
bonds as defects and has high binding energy to impurities such as
hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride. The provision of the
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 facilitates movement and
diffusion of impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or
hydride included in the oxide semiconductor layer into the
insulating layer 386 having defects.
[0411] In addition, when the impurities which have been removed
from the oxide semiconductor layer and diffused into the insulating
layer 386 having defects move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 389 functions as a
protective layer (a barrier layer) which is bound to and stabilizes
the impurities so as to prevent the impurities from entering the
oxide semiconductor layer.
[0412] As described above, by removing impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation from the oxide
semiconductor layer, the oxide semiconductor layer 382 with reduced
impurities can be provided. Further, the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 389 which functions as a barrier layer prevents
the impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer
386 having defects from entering the oxide semiconductor layer
again; thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer 382 can be kept low.
[0413] Through the above process, the thin film transistor 380 can
be formed.
[0414] Then, in order to reduce variation in electric
characteristics of the thin film transistor, heat treatment (equal
to or greater than 150.degree. C. and lower than 350.degree. C.)
may be performed in an inert gas atmosphere or in a nitrogen gas
atmosphere. For example, the heat treatment is performed at
250.degree. C. for one hour in a nitrogen atmosphere. Note that the
heat treatment for diffusion of impurities such as hydrogen from
the oxide semiconductor layer into the insulating layer having
defects may be combined with this heat treatment.
[0415] Heat treatment may be further performed at 100.degree. C. to
200.degree. C. inclusive in air for 1 hour to 30 hours inclusive.
In this embodiment, the heat treatment is performed at 150.degree.
C. for 10 hours. This heat treatment may be performed at a fixed
heating temperature. Alternatively, the following change in the
heating temperature may be conducted plural times repeatedly: the
heating temperature is increased from room temperature to a
temperature of 100.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. inclusive and then
decreased to room temperature. Further, this heat treatment may be
performed under reduced pressure before the formation of the oxide
insulating layer. Under reduced pressure, the heat treatment time
can be shortened. With this heat treatment, hydrogen is introduced
from the oxide semiconductor layer to the oxide insulating layer;
thus, a normally-off thin film transistor can be obtained.
Accordingly, the reliability of the semiconductor device can be
improved.
[0416] A protective insulating layer 373 is formed over the
insulating layer 386 having defects. In this embodiment, a
100-nm-thick silicon nitride layer is formed as the protective
insulating layer 373 by a sputtering method.
[0417] The protective insulating layer 373 and the first gate
insulating layer 372a which are formed using a nitride insulating
layer do not include impurities such as moisture, hydrogen,
hydride, or hydroxide and prevent the entry of them from the
outside.
[0418] Therefore, in a manufacturing process after the formation of
the protective insulating layer 373, entry of impurities such as
moisture from the outside can be prevented. Further, even after a
device is completed as a semiconductor device such as a liquid
crystal display device, entry of impurities such as moisture from
the outside can be prevented in the long term; therefore, the
long-term reliability of the device can be improved.
[0419] Further, the insulating layer provided between the
protective insulating layer 373 which is formed using a nitride
insulating layer and the first gate insulating layer 372a may be
removed so that the protective insulating layer 373 and the first
gate insulating layer 372a are in contact with each other.
[0420] Accordingly, impurities such as moisture, hydrogen, hydride,
and hydroxide in the oxide semiconductor layer are reduced as much
as possible and reentry of such impurities is prevented, so that
the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer can be
kept low.
[0421] A planarization insulating layer for planarization may be
provided over the protective insulating layer 373.
[0422] As described above, by removing remaining moisture in the
reaction atmosphere at the time of the formation of the oxide
semiconductor film, the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in
the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. In addition, by
providing the insulating layer having defects over the oxide
semiconductor layer with the oxygen-excess mixed region
therebetween, impurities such as hydrogen or moisture in the oxide
semiconductor layer are diffused into the insulating layer having
defects, whereby the concentration of hydrogen and hydride in the
oxide semiconductor layer can be reduced. Accordingly, the oxide
semiconductor layer can be stabilized.
[0423] Even if impurities move back toward the oxide semiconductor
layer 382 due to heat treatment in the steps after being diffused
into the insulating layer 386 having defects, the oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer 389 functioning as a barrier layer prevents
the impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer 382.
Thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer
382 can be kept low.
[0424] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
[0425] As described above, a highly reliable semiconductor device
with stable electric characteristics including a thin film
transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can be
provided.
Embodiment 8
[0426] In this embodiment, an example of a thin film transistor
which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed in this
specification will be described.
[0427] In this embodiment, an example of using a light-transmitting
conductive material for a gate electrode layer, a source electrode
layer, and a drain electrode layer will be described. Except those,
the thin film transistor can be formed in a manner similar to that
in the above embodiments; accordingly, repetitive description of
the same components or components having functions similar to those
of above embodiment and repetitive description of similar process
will be omitted. Further, detailed description of the same parts
will also be omitted.
[0428] For example, as materials of the gate electrode layer, the
source electrode layer, and the drain electrode layer, a conductive
material that transmits visible light can be used. For example,
In--Sn--O-based metal oxide, In--Sn--Zn--O-based metal oxide,
In--Al--Zn--O-based metal oxide, Sn--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide,
Al--Ga--Zn--O-based metal oxide, Sn--Al--Zn--O-based metal oxide,
In--Zn--O-based metal oxide, Sn--Zn--O-based metal oxide,
Al--Zn--O-based metal oxide, In--O-based metal oxide, Sn--O-based
metal oxide, or a Zn--O-based metal oxide can be employed. The
thickness thereof is set as appropriate in the range of from 50 nm
to 300 nm inclusive. As a film-formation method of the metal oxide
used for the gate electrode layer, the source electrode layer, and
the drain electrode layer, a sputtering method, a vacuum
evaporation method (an electron beam evaporation method or the
like), an arc discharge ion plating method or a spray method is
used. In the case of film formation by a sputtering method, a
target including SiO.sub.2 at 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive may be
used.
[0429] Note that the unit of the percentage of components in the
light-transmitting conductive film is atomic percent, and the
percentage of components is evaluated by analysis using an electron
probe X-ray microanalyzer (EPMA).
[0430] In the pixel provided with the thin film transistor, when a
pixel electrode layer, another electrode layer such as a capacitor
electrode layer, or another wiring layer such as a capacitor wiring
layer is formed using a conductive film that transmits visible
light, a display device having high aperture ratio is realized.
Needless to say, it is preferable that a gate insulating layer, an
oxide insulating layer, a protective insulating layer, and a
planarization insulating layer be each formed using a film that
transmits visible light.
[0431] In this specification, a film that transmits visible light
refers to a film having such a thickness as to have visible light
transmittance of 75% to 100%. In the case where the film has
conductivity, the film is referred to as a transparent conductive
film. Further, a conductive film which is semi-transparent to
visible light may be used as metal oxide for the gate electrode
layer, the source electrode layer, the drain electrode layer, the
pixel electrode layer, another electrode layer, or another wiring
layer. The conductive film which is semi-transparent to visible
light means a film having visible light transmittance of 50% to
75%.
[0432] When a thin film transistor has a light-transmitting
property, the aperture ratio can be increased. For small liquid
crystal display panels of 10 inches or smaller in particular, a
high aperture ratio can be achieved even when the size of pixels is
decreased in order to realize higher resolution of display images
by increasing the number of gate wirings, for example. Further, by
using a film having a light-transmitting property for components of
a thin film transistor, a high aperture ratio can be achieved even
when one pixel is divided into a plurality of sub-pixels in order
to realize a wide viewing angle. That is, a high aperture ratio can
be realized even when a group of thin film transistors are densely
arranged, and thus the display region can have a sufficient area.
For example, in the case where one pixel includes two to four
sub-pixels, the aperture ratio can be improved because the thin
film transistor has a light-transmitting property. Further, when a
storage capacitor is formed using the same steps and the same
materials as those of the thin film transistor, the storage
capacitor can also have a light-transmitting property; therefore,
the aperture ratio can be further increased.
[0433] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
Embodiment 9
[0434] In this embodiment, an example of a thin film transistor
which can be applied to a semiconductor device disclosed in this
specification will be described.
[0435] In this embodiment, FIG. 18 illustrates an example in which
an oxide semiconductor layer is surrounded by nitride insulating
films in a cross section. FIG. 18 is the same as FIGS. 1A to 1E
except the top surface shape and the position of the end portion of
an oxide insulating layer and the structure of a gate insulating
layer; therefore, the same portions are denoted by the same
reference numerals, and detailed description of the same portions
is omitted.
[0436] A thin film transistor 180 in FIG. 18 is a bottom-gate thin
film transistor and includes, over the substrate 100 having an
insulating surface, the gate electrode layer 111, a gate insulating
layer 142a formed using a nitride insulating layer, a gate
insulating layer 142b formed using an oxide insulating layer, the
oxide semiconductor layer 112, the oxygen-excess mixed region 119,
the source electrode layer 115a, and the drain electrode layer
115b. In addition, an insulating layer 146 having defects which
covers the thin film transistor 180 and overlaps with the oxide
semiconductor layer 112 with the mixed region 119 therebetween is
provided. A protective insulating layer 143 formed using a nitride
insulating layer is additionally provided over the insulating layer
146 having defects. The protective insulating layer 143 is in
contact with the gate insulating layer 142a, which is a nitride
insulating layer.
[0437] Since the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 has a high binding
energy to hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound
including a hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities
are stabilized in the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 and the
insulating layer 146 having defects, these impurities can be
diffused from the oxide semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess
mixed region and the insulating layer 146 having defects, whereby
these impurities can be removed from the oxide semiconductor layer.
Further, the oxygen-excess mixed region 119 functions as a barrier
layer against impurities which have been diffused into the
insulating layer 146 having defects to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer 112 again; thus, the
impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer 112 can be
kept low. Accordingly, the thin film transistor 180 including the
oxide semiconductor layer 112 in which impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride (also referred to as a hydrogen
compound) which cause variation are reduced is a highly reliable
thin film transistor with stable electric characteristics.
[0438] In the thin film transistor 180 of this embodiment, the gate
insulating layer has a stacked structure in which a nitride
insulating layer and an oxide insulating layer are stacked over the
gate electrode layer. Further, before the protective insulating
layer 143 formed using a nitride insulating layer is formed, the
insulating layer 146 having defects and the gate insulating layer
142b are selectively removed so as to expose the gate insulating
layer 142a formed using a nitride insulating layer.
[0439] At least the area of the top surface of the insulating layer
146 having defects and that of the top surface of the gate
insulating layer 142b are larger than that of the top surface of
the oxide semiconductor layer 112, and preferably the insulating
layer 146 having defects covers the thin film transistor 180.
[0440] Further, the protective insulating layer 143 is formed using
a nitride insulating layer to cover the top surface of the
insulating layer 146 having defects and the side surfaces of the
insulating layer 146 having defects and the gate insulating layer
142b, and to be in contact with the gate insulating layer 142a
formed using a nitride insulating layer.
[0441] For the protective insulating layer 143 and the first gate
insulating layer 142a which are each formed using a nitride
insulating layer, an inorganic insulating film which does not
include impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW and
which prevents the entry of them from the outside is used: for
example, a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxynitride film, an
aluminum nitride film, or an aluminum oxynitride film obtained by a
sputtering method or a plasma CVD method is used.
[0442] In this embodiment, as the protective insulating layer 143
formed using a nitride insulating film, a 100-nm-thick silicon
nitride layer is formed by an RF sputtering method to cover the top
surface and side surfaces of the oxide semiconductor layer 112.
[0443] With the structure illustrated in FIG. 18, an impurity such
as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride in the oxide
semiconductor layer is reduced due to the gate insulating layer
142b and the insulating layer 146 having defects which are provided
to surround and be in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer,
and the entry of moisture from the outside in a manufacturing
process after the formation of the protective insulating layer 143
can be prevented because the oxide semiconductor layer is further
surrounded by the gate insulating layer 142a and the protective
insulating layer 143 which are each formed using a nitride
insulating layer. Moreover, the entry of moisture from the outside
can be prevented in the long term even after the device is
completed as a semiconductor device, for example, as a display
device; thus, the long-term reliability of the device can be
improved.
[0444] In this embodiment, one thin film transistor is surrounded
by nitride insulating layers; however, the embodiment of the
present invention is not limited to this structure. A plurality of
thin film transistors may be surrounded by nitride insulating
layers, or a plurality of thin film transistors in a pixel portion
may be surrounded by nitride insulating layers. A region where the
protective insulating layer 143 and the gate insulating layer 142a
are in contact with each other may be formed so as to surround a
pixel portion of the active matrix substrate.
[0445] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
Embodiment 10
[0446] In this embodiment, an example of manufacturing an active
matrix light-emitting display device using a thin film transistor
and a light-emitting element using electroluminescence, in the
semiconductor device according to any of Embodiments 1 to 9 will be
described.
[0447] Light-emitting elements utilizing electroluminescence are
classified according to whether the light-emitting material is an
organic compound or an inorganic compound. In general, the former
is referred to as an organic EL element, and the latter is referred
to as an inorganic EL element.
[0448] In an organic EL element, by application of voltage to a
light-emitting element, electrons and holes are separately injected
from a pair of electrodes into a layer containing a light-emitting
organic compound, and current flows. Then, those carriers (i.e.,
electrons and holes) are recombined, and light is emitted. Owing to
such a mechanism, this light-emitting element is referred to as a
current-excitation light-emitting element.
[0449] The inorganic EL elements are classified according to their
element structures into a dispersion-type inorganic EL element and
a thin-film inorganic EL element. A dispersion-type inorganic EL
element has a light-emitting layer where particles of a
light-emitting material are dispersed in a binder, and its light
emission mechanism is donor-acceptor recombination type light
emission that utilizes a donor level and an acceptor level. A
thin-film inorganic EL element has a structure where a
light-emitting layer is sandwiched between dielectric layers, which
are further sandwiched between electrodes, and its light emission
mechanism is localized type light emission that utilizes
inner-shell electron transition of metal ions. Note that a
description is made here using an organic EL element as a
light-emitting element.
[0450] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a pixel structure as an
example of a semiconductor device which can be driven by a digital
time grayscale method.
[0451] A structure and operation of a pixel which can be driven by
a digital time grayscale driving can be applied will be described.
In this example, one pixel includes two n-channel transistors each
of which includes an oxide semiconductor layer as a channel
formation region.
[0452] A pixel 6400 includes a switching transistor 6401, a driver
transistor 6402, a light-emitting element 6404, and a capacitor
6403. A gate of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a
scan line 6406, a first electrode (one of a source electrode and a
drain electrode) of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a
signal line 6405, and a second electrode (the other of the source
electrode and the drain electrode) of the switching transistor 6401
is connected to a gate of the driver transistor 6402. The gate of
the driver transistor 6402 is connected to a power supply line 6407
via the capacitor 6403, a first electrode of the driver transistor
6402 is connected to the power supply line 6407, and a second
electrode of the driver transistor 6402 is connected to a first
electrode (pixel electrode) of the light-emitting element 6404. A
second electrode of the light-emitting element 6404 corresponds to
a common electrode 6408. The common electrode 6408 is electrically
connected to a common potential line provided over the same
substrate.
[0453] Note that the second electrode (the common electrode 6408)
of the light-emitting element 6404 is set to a low power supply
potential. Note that the low power supply potential is a potential
lower than a high power supply potential which is supplied to the
power supply line 6407. For example, GND or 0 V may be set as the
low power supply potential. A potential difference between the high
power supply potential and the low power supply potential is
applied to the light-emitting element 6404 so that current flows
through the light-emitting element 6404, whereby the light-emitting
element 6404 emits light. Thus, each potential is set so that the
difference between the high power supply potential and the low
power supply potential is greater than or equal to a forward
threshold voltage of the light-emitting element 6404.
[0454] When the gate capacitance of the driver transistor 6402 is
used as a substitute for the capacitor 6403, the capacitor 6403 can
be omitted. The gate capacitance of the driver transistor 6402 may
be formed between a channel region and a gate electrode.
[0455] Here, in the case of employing a voltage-input voltage
driving method, a video signal is input to the gate of the driver
transistor 6402 to make the driver transistor 6402 completely turn
on or off. That is, the driver transistor 6402 operates in a linear
region, and thus, a voltage higher than the voltage of the power
supply line 6407 is applied to the gate of the driver transistor
6402. Note that a voltage greater than or equal to the sum of the
power supply line voltage and V.sub.th of the driver transistor
6402 is applied to the signal line 6405.
[0456] In the case of employing an analog grayscale method instead
of the digital time grayscale method, the same pixel structure as
in FIG. 9 can be employed by inputting signals in a different
way.
[0457] In the case of employing the analog grayscale method, a
voltage greater than or equal to voltage which is the sum of
forward voltage of the light-emitting element 6404 and V.sub.th of
the driver transistor 6402 is applied to the gate of the driver
transistor 6402. The forward voltage of the light-emitting element
6404 refers to a voltage to obtain a desired luminance, and is
larger than at least a forward threshold voltage. By inputting a
video signal to enable the driver transistor 6402 to operate in a
saturation region, current can be supplied to the light-emitting
element 6404. In order that the driver transistor 6402 may operate
in the saturation region, the potential of the power supply line
6407 is set higher than a gate potential of the driver transistor
6402. When an analog video signal is used, it is possible to feed
current to the light-emitting element 6404 in accordance with the
video signal and perform analog grayscale driving.
[0458] Note that the pixel structure is not limited to that
illustrated in FIG. 9. For example, the pixel in FIG. 9 can further
include a switch, a resistor, a capacitor, a transistor, a logic
circuit, or the like.
[0459] Next, structures of the light-emitting element will be
described with reference to FIGS. 10A to 10C. Here, a
cross-sectional structure of a pixel will be described using an
example where a driver TFT is an n-channel TFT. Driver TFTs 7011,
7021, and 7001 which are used for the semiconductor devices
illustrated in FIGS. 10A to 10C can be manufactured in a manner
similar to that of the thin film transistor described in any of
Embodiments 1-8 and are light-transmitting thin film transistors
each including an oxide semiconductor layer.
[0460] In order to extract light emitted from the light-emitting
element, at least one of an anode and a cathode should be
transparent. There are following structures of a light-emitting
element which is formed over the same substrate as a thin film
transistor: a top-emission structure in which light is extracted
through the surface opposite to the substrate, a bottom-emission
structure in which light is extracted through the surface of the
substrate, and a dual-emission structure in which light is
extracted through the surface opposite to the substrate and the
surface of the substrate. The pixel structure can be applied to a
light-emitting element having any of these emission structures.
[0461] A light-emitting element having a bottom emission structure
will be described with reference to FIG. 10A.
[0462] A cross-sectional view of a pixel in the case where the
driver TFT 7011 is an n-channel TFT and light is emitted from a
light-emitting element 7012 to a first electrode 7013 side. In FIG.
10A, the first electrode 7013 of the light-emitting element 7012 is
formed over a light-transmitting conductive film 7017 which is
electrically connected a drain electrode layer to the driver TFT
7011, and an EL layer 7014 and a second electrode 7015 are stacked
in that order over the first electrode 7013.
[0463] As the light-transmitting conductive film 7017, a
light-transmitting conductive film of, for example, indium oxide
containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten
oxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide
containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, or
indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added can be used.
[0464] Any of a variety of materials can be used for the first
electrode 7013 of the light-emitting element. For example, in the
case where the first electrode 7013 is used as a cathode, the first
electrode 7013 is preferably formed using, for example, a material
having a low work function such as an alkali metal such as Li or
Cs; an alkaline earth metal such as Mg, Ca, or Sr; an alloy
containing any of these metals (e.g., Mg:Ag or Al:Li); or a rare
earth metal such as Yb or Er. In FIG. 10A, the thickness of the
first electrode 7013 is set so that light can be transmitted
(preferably, about 5 nm to 30 nm). For example, an aluminum film
having a thickness of 20 nm is used as the first electrode
7013.
[0465] Note that the light-transmitting conductive film and the
aluminum film may be stacked and then selectively etched to form
the light-transmitting conductive film 7017 and the first electrode
7013; in this case, the light-transmitting conductive film 7017 and
the first electrode 7013 can be etched using the same mask, which
is preferable.
[0466] The peripheral portion of the first electrode 7013 is
covered with a partition 7019. The partition 7019 is formed using
an organic resin film of polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, epoxy, or
the like; an inorganic insulating film; or organic polysiloxane. It
is particularly preferable that the partition 7019 be formed using
a photosensitive resin material to have an opening over the first
electrode 7013 and a sidewall of the opening be formed as an
inclined surface with a continuous curvature. In the case where a
photosensitive resin material is used for the partition 7019, a
step of forming a resist mask can be omitted.
[0467] The EL layer 7014 which is formed over the first electrode
7013 and the partition 7019 may include at least a light-emitting
layer and nay be formed as a single layer or a stack of plural
layers. When the EL layer 7014 is formed as a stack of plural
layers, the EL layer 7014 is formed by stacking an
electron-injection layer, an electron-transport layer, a
light-emitting layer, a hole-transport layer, and a hole-injection
layer in that order over the first electrode 7013 which functions
as a cathode. Note that not all of these layers need to be
provided.
[0468] The stacking order is not limited to the above stacking
order. The first electrode 7013 may be used as an anode, and a
hole-injection layer, a hole-transport layer, a light-emitting
layer, an electron-transport layer, and an electron-injection layer
may be stacked in that order over the first electrode 7013.
However, from a power consumption standpoint, it is preferable that
the first electrode 7013 be used as a cathode and an
electron-injection layer, an electron-transport layer, a
light-emitting layer, a hole-transport layer, and a hole-injection
layer be stacked in that order over the first electrode 7013
because voltage rise in a driver circuit portion can be suppressed
and power consumption can be reduced.
[0469] As the second electrode 7015 formed over the EL layer 7014,
various materials can be employed. For example, in the case where
the second electrode 7015 is used as an anode, the second electrode
7015 is preferably formed using, for example, a material having a
high work function such as ZrN, Ti, W, Ni, Pt, or Cr; or a
light-transmitting conductive material such as ITO, IZO, or ZnO.
Further, a blocking film 7016, for example, a metal which blocks
light or a metal which reflects light is provided over the second
electrode 7015. In this embodiment, an ITO film is used as the
second electrode 7015, and a Ti film is used as the blocking film
7016.
[0470] The light-emitting element 7012 corresponds to a region
where the EL layer 7014 including a light-emitting layer is
sandwiched between the first electrode 7013 and the second
electrode 7015. In the element structure illustrated in FIG. 10A,
light is emitted from the light-emitting element 7012 to the first
electrode 7013 side as indicated by an arrow.
[0471] Note that in an example illustrated in FIG. 10A, a
light-transmitting conductive film is used as a gate electrode
layer, and a light-transmitting this film is used for the source
electrode layer and the drain electrode layer; thus, light emitted
from the light-emitting element 7012 passes through the color
filter layer 7033 and the substrate to be emitted outside.
[0472] The color filter layer 7033 is formed by a droplet discharge
method such as an ink jetting method, a printing method, an etching
method using a photolithography technique, or the like.
[0473] The color filter layer 7033 is covered with the overcoat
layer 7034, and further covered with the protective insulating
layer 7035. Note that although the overcoat layer 7034 has a small
thickness in FIG. 10A, the overcoat layer 7034 has a function to
planarize roughness due to the color filter layer 7033.
[0474] The contact hole which is formed in the protective
insulating layer 7035, the insulating layer 7032, and the
insulating layer 7031 and reaches the drain electrode is positioned
to overlap with the partition 7019.
[0475] Next, a light-emitting element having a dual emission
structure will be described with reference to FIG. 10B.
[0476] In FIG. 10B, a first electrode 7023 of a light-emitting
element 7022 is formed over a light-transmitting conductive film
7027 which is electrically connected a drain electrode layer to the
driver TFT 7021, and an EL layer 7024 and a second electrode 7025
are stacked in that order over the first electrode 7023.
[0477] As the light-transmitting conductive film 7027, a
light-transmitting conductive film of, for example, indium oxide
containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten
oxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide
containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, or
indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added can be used.
[0478] Any of a variety of materials can be used for the first
electrode 7023. For example, in the case where the first electrode
7023 is used as a cathode, the first electrode 7023 is preferably
formed using, for example, a material having a low work function
such as an alkali metal such as Li or Cs; an alkaline earth metal
such as Mg, Ca, or Sr; an alloy containing any of these metals
(e.g., Mg:Ag or Al:Li); or a rare earth metal such as Yb or Er. In
this embodiment, the first electrode 7023 is used as a cathode and
the thickness of the first electrode 7023 is set so that light can
be transmitted (preferably, about 5 nm to 30 nm). For example, an
aluminum film having a thickness of 20 nm is used as the first
electrode.
[0479] Note that the light-transmitting conductive film and the
aluminum film may be stacked and then selectively etched to form
the light-transmitting conductive film 7027 and the first electrode
7023; in this case, the light-transmitting conductive film 7027 and
the first electrode 7023 can be etched using the same mask, which
is preferable.
[0480] The peripheral portion of the first electrode 7023 is
covered with a partition 7029. The partition 7029 is formed using
an organic resin film of polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, epoxy, or
the like; an inorganic insulating film; or organic polysiloxane. It
is particularly preferable that the partition 7029 be formed using
a photosensitive resin material to have an opening over the first
electrode 7023 and a sidewall of the opening be formed as an
inclined surface with a continuous curvature. In the case where a
photosensitive resin material is used for the partition 7029, a
step of forming a resist mask can be omitted.
[0481] The EL layer 7024 which is formed over the first electrode
7023 and the partition 7029 may include a light-emitting layer and
nay be formed as a single layer or a stack of plural layers. When
the EL layer 7024 is formed as a stack of plural layers, the EL
layer 7024 is formed by stacking an electron-injection layer, an
electron-transport layer, a light-emitting layer, a hole-transport
layer, and a hole-injection layer in that order over the first
electrode 7023 which functions as a cathode. Note that not all of
these layers need to be provided.
[0482] The stacking order is not limited to the above stacking
order. The first electrode 7023 may be used as an anode, and a
hole-injection layer, a hole-transport layer, a light-emitting
layer, an electron-transport layer, and an electron-injection layer
may be stacked in that order over the anode. However, from a power
consumption standpoint, it is preferable that the first electrode
7023 be used as a cathode and an electron-injection layer, an
electron-transport layer, a light-emitting layer, a hole-transport
layer, and a hole-injection layer be stacked in that order over the
cathode because power consumption can be reduced.
[0483] As the second electrode 7025 formed over the EL layer 7024,
various materials can be employed. For example, in the case where
the second electrode 7025 is used as an anode, the second electrode
7025 is preferably formed using a material having a high work
function, for example, a light-transmitting conductive material
such as ITO, IZO, or ZnO. In this embodiment, the second electrode
7026 is used as an anode and an ITO film including silicon oxide is
formed.
[0484] The light-emitting element 7022 corresponds to a region
where the EL layer 7024 including a light-emitting layer is
sandwiched between the first electrode 7023 and the second
electrode 7025. In the element structure illustrated in FIG. 10B,
light is emitted from the light-emitting element 7022 to both the
second electrode 7025 side and the first electrode 7023 side as
indicated by arrows.
[0485] Note that in an example illustrated in FIG. 10B, a
light-transmitting conductive film is used as a gate electrode
layer, and a light-transmitting this film is used for the source
electrode layer and the drain electrode layer; thus, light emitted
from the light-emitting element 7022 to the first electrode 7023
side passes through the color filter layer 7043 and the substrate
to be emitted outside.
[0486] The color filter layer 7043 is formed by a droplet discharge
method such as an ink jetting method, a printing method, an etching
method using a photolithography technique, or the like.
[0487] The color filter layer 7043 is covered with the overcoat
layer 7044, and further covered with the protective insulating
layer 7045.
[0488] The contact hole which is formed in the protective
insulating layer 7045, the insulating layer 7042, and the
insulating layer 7042 and reaches the drain electrode is positioned
to overlap with the partition 7029.
[0489] Note that when a light-emitting element having a dual
emission structure is used and full color display is performed on
both display surfaces, light emitted from the second electrode 7025
side does not pass through the color filter layer 7043; therefore,
a sealing substrate provided with another color filter layer is
preferably provided over the second electrode 7025.
[0490] A light-emitting element having a top emission structure
will be described with reference to FIG. 10C.
[0491] FIG. 10C illustrates a cross-sectional view of a pixel in
the case where the driver TFT 7001 is an n-channel TFT and light is
emitted from a light-emitting element 7002 to a first second
electrode 7005 side. In FIG. 10C, a drain electrode layer of the
driver TFT 7001 and a first electrode 7003 are in contact with each
other, and the driver TFT 7001 and the first electrode 7003 of the
light-emitting element 7002 are electrically connected to each
other. An EL layer 7004 and a second electrode 7005 are stacked
over the first electrode 7003 in this order.
[0492] Any of a variety of materials can be used for the first
electrode 7003 of the light-emitting element. For example, in the
case where the first electrode 7003 is used as a cathode, the first
electrode 7003 is preferably formed using, for example, a material
having a low work function such as an alkali metal such as Li or
Cs; an alkaline earth metal such as Mg, Ca, or Sr; an alloy
containing any of these metals (e.g., Mg:Ag or Al:Li); or a rare
earth metal such as Yb or Er.
[0493] The peripheral portion of the first electrode 7003 is
covered with a partition 7009. The partition 7009 is formed using
an organic resin film of polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, epoxy, or
the like; an inorganic insulating film; or organic polysiloxane. It
is particularly preferable that the partition 7009 be formed using
a photosensitive resin material to have an opening over the first
electrode 7003 and a sidewall of the opening be formed as an
inclined surface with a continuous curvature. In the case where a
photosensitive resin material is used for the partition 7009, a
step of forming a resist mask can be omitted.
[0494] The EL layer 7004 which is formed over the first electrode
7003 and the partition 7009 may include at least a light-emitting
layer and nay be formed as a single layer or a stack of plural
layers. When the EL layer 7004 is formed as a stack of plural
layers, the EL layer 7004 is formed by stacking an
electron-injection layer, an electron-transport layer, a
light-emitting layer, a hole-transport layer, and a hole-injection
layer in that order over the first electrode 7003 which is used as
a cathode. Note that not all of these layers need to be
provided.
[0495] The stacking order is not limited to the above stacking
order. A hole-injection layer, a hole-transport layer, a
light-emitting layer, an electron-transport layer, and an
electron-injection layer may be stacked in that order over the
first electrode 7003 which is used as an anode.
[0496] In FIG. 10C, a hole-injection layer, a hole-transport layer,
a light-emitting layer, an electron-transport layer, and an
electron-injection layer are stacked in that order over a stacked
film in which a Ti film, an aluminum film, and a Ti film are
stacked in that order, and a stacked layer of a Mg:Ag alloy thin
film and ITO is formed thereover.
[0497] In the case where the driver TFT 7001 is an n-channel TFT,
it is preferable that an electron-injection layer, an
electron-transport layer, a light-emitting layer, a hole-transport
layer, and a hole-injection layer be stacked in that order over the
first electrode 7003 because voltage rise in a driver circuit can
be suppressed and power consumption can be reduced.
[0498] The second electrode 7005 is formed using a
light-transmitting conductive material which transmits light, and
for example, a light-transmitting conductive film of indium oxide
containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten
oxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide
containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide,
indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added, or the like may
be used.
[0499] The light-emitting element 7002 corresponds to a region
where the EL layer 7004 including a light-emitting layer is
sandwiched between the first electrode 7003 and the second
electrode 7005. In the element structure illustrated in FIG. 10C,
light is emitted from the light-emitting element 7002 to the second
electrode 7005 side as indicated by an arrow.
[0500] In FIG. 10C, the drain electrode layer of the driver TFT
7001 is electrically connected to the first electrode 7003 through
the contact hole formed in an insulating layer 7051 having defects,
a protective insulating layer 7052, a planarization insulating
layer 7056, a planarization insulating layer 7053, and an
insulating layer 7055. For the planarization insulating layers
7036, 7046, 7053, and 7056, a resin material such as polyimide,
acrylic, benzocyclobutene, polyamide, or epoxy can be used. As an
alternative to such resin materials, it is possible to use a
low-dielectric constant material (a low-k material), a
siloxane-based resin, phosphosilicate glass (PSG),
borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), or the like. Note that the
planarization insulating layers 7036, 7046, 7053, and 7056 may be
formed by stacking a plurality of insulating films formed of these
materials. There is no particular limitation on the method for
forming the planarization insulating layers 7036, 7046, 7053, and
7056. Depending on the material, the planarization insulating layer
7036, 7046, 7053, and 7056 can be formed by a method such as
sputtering method, an SOG method, a spin coating method, a dipping
method, a spray coating method, or a droplet discharge method
(e.g., an ink jetting method, screen printing, or offset printing),
or by using a tool (apparatus) such as a doctor knife, a roll
coater, a curtain coater, a knife coater, or the like.
[0501] The partition 7009 is provided so as to insulate the first
electrode 7003 and a first electrode of an adjacent pixel. The
partition 7009 is formed using an organic resin film of polyimide,
an acrylic resin, polyamide, an epoxy resin, or the like; an
inorganic insulating film; or organic polysiloxane. It is
particularly preferable that the partition 7009 be formed using a
photosensitive resin material to have an opening over the first
electrode 7003 and a sidewall of the opening be formed as an
inclined surface with a continuous curvature. In the case where a
photosensitive resin material is used for the partition 7009, a
step of forming a resist mask can be omitted.
[0502] In the structure of FIG. 10C, when full color display is
performed, for example, the light-emitting element 7002 is used as
a green light-emitting element, one of adjacent light-emitting
elements is used as a red light-emitting element, and the other is
used as a blue light-emitting element. Alternatively, a
light-emitting display device capable of full color display may be
manufactured using four kinds of light-emitting elements, which
include white light-emitting elements as well as three kinds of
light-emitting elements.
[0503] In the structure of FIG. 10C, a light-emitting display
device capable of full color display may be manufactured in such a
way that all of a plurality of light-emitting elements which is
arranged is white light-emitting elements and a sealing substrate
having a color filter or the like is provided over the
light-emitting element 7002. When a material which exhibits a
single color such as white is formed and then combined with a color
filter or a color conversion layer, full color display can be
performed.
[0504] Any of the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9 can
be used as appropriate as the driver TFTs 7001, 7011, and 7021 used
for the semiconductor devices, and the driver TFTs 7001, 7011, and
7021 can be formed using steps and materials similar to those for
the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9. The driver TFTs
7001, 7011, and 7021 include an oxygen-excess mixed region between
the oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer 7051, 7031,
or 7041 having defects. As in Embodiment 2, an oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer may be provided instead of the oxygen-excess mixed
region. An oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer produces an effect
similar to the effect of the oxygen-excess mixed region.
[0505] Since the oxygen-excess mixed region and insulating layer
7031, 7041, and 7051 having defects have a high binding energy to
hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities are stabilized
in the oxygen-excess mixed region and the insulating layer having
many defects, these impurities can be diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess mixed region and the
insulating layers 7031, 7041, and 7051 having defects, whereby
these impurities can be removed from the oxide semiconductor layer.
Further, the oxygen-excess mixed region functions as a barrier
layer against impurities which have been diffused into the
insulating layer 7031, 7041, and 7051 having defects to prevent the
impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer again; thus,
the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer can be
kept low. Accordingly, the driver TFTs 7001, 7011, and 7021
including the oxide semiconductor layer in which impurities such as
hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride (also referred to as a
hydrogen compound) which cause variation are reduced are highly
reliable thin film transistors with stable electric
characteristics.
[0506] Needless to say, display with single color light emission
can also be performed. For example, a lighting system may be formed
with the use of white light emission, or an area-color
light-emitting device may be formed with the use of a single color
light emission.
[0507] If necessary, an optical film such as a polarizing film
including a circularly polarizing plate may be provided.
[0508] Although an organic EL element is described here as a
light-emitting element, an inorganic EL element can alternatively
be provided as a light-emitting element.
[0509] Although the example in which a thin film transistor (a
driver TFT) which controls the driving of a light-emitting element
is electrically connected to the light-emitting element has been
described, a structure may be employed in which a TFT for
controlling current is connected between the driver TFT and the
light-emitting element.
[0510] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
Embodiment 11
[0511] In this embodiment, an appearance and a cross section of a
light-emitting display panel (also referred to as a light-emitting
panel) will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B. FIG.
11A is a plan view of a panel in which thin film transistors and a
light-emitting element which are formed over a first substrate are
sealed between the first substrate and a second substrate with a
sealant. FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view taken along line H-I in
FIG. 11A.
[0512] A sealant 4505 is provided so as to surround a pixel portion
4502, signal line driver circuits 4503a and 4503b, and scan line
driver circuits 4504a and 4504b, which are provided over a first
substrate 4501. In addition, a second substrate 4506 is provided
over the pixel portion 4502, the signal line driver circuits 4503a
and 4503b, and the scan line driver circuits 4504a and 4504b.
Accordingly, the pixel portion 4502, the signal line driver
circuits 4503a and 4503b, and the scan line driver circuits 4504a
and 4504b are sealed together with a filler 4507, by the first
substrate 4501, the sealant 4505, and the second substrate 4506. It
is preferable that a panel be thus packaged (sealed) with a
protective film (such as a bonding film or an ultraviolet curable
resin film) or a cover material with high air-tightness and little
degasification so that the pixel portion 4502, the signal line
driver circuits 4503a and 4503b, the scan line driver circuits
4504a and 4504b are not exposed to air.
[0513] The pixel portion 4502, the signal line driver circuits
4503a and 4503b, and the scan line driver circuits 4504a and 4504b
which are formed over the first substrate 4501 each include a
plurality of thin film transistors. A thin film transistor 4510
included in the pixel portion 4502 and a thin film transistor 4509
included in the signal line driver circuit 4503a are illustrated as
an example in FIG. 11B.
[0514] Any of the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9 can
be used as appropriate as the thin film transistors 4509 and 4510,
and they can be formed using steps and materials similar to those
for the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9. The thin film
transistors 4509 and 4510 include an oxygen-excess mixed region
(not shown) between an oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating
layer 4542 having defects. As in Embodiment 2, an oxygen-excess
oxide insulating layer may be provided instead of the oxygen-excess
mixed region. An oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer produces an
effect similar to the effect of the oxygen-excess mixed region.
[0515] Since the oxygen-excess mixed region and the insulating
layer having many defects have a high binding energy to hydrogen or
moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound including a hydrogen atom
such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities are stabilized in the
oxygen-excess mixed region and the insulating layer 4542 having
defects, these impurities can be diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess mixed region and the
insulating layer 4542 having defects by heat treatment, whereby
these impurities can be removed from the oxide semiconductor layer.
Further, the oxygen-excess mixed region functions as a barrier
layer against impurities which have been diffused into the
insulating layer having defects to prevent the impurities from
entering the oxide semiconductor layer again; thus, the impurity
concentration of the oxide semiconductor layer can be kept low.
Accordingly, the thin film transistors 4509 and 4510 including the
oxide semiconductor layer in which impurities such as hydrogen,
moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which cause variation are reduced
are highly reliable thin film transistors with stable electric
characteristics.
[0516] Note that the thin film transistor 4509 for a driver circuit
has a conductive layer in a position which overlaps with a channel
formation region in the oxide semiconductor layer in the thin film
transistor. In this embodiment, the thin film transistors 4509 and
4510 are n-channel thin film transistors.
[0517] A conductive layer 4540 is provided over part of the
insulating layer 4542 having defects, which overlaps with a channel
formation region in an oxide semiconductor layer in the thin film
transistor 4509 for the driver circuit. The conductive layer 4540
is provided at the position overlapping with the channel formation
region in the oxide semiconductor layer, whereby the amount of
change in threshold voltage of the thin film transistor 4509 before
and after BT test can be reduced. A potential of the conductive
layer 4540 may be the same or different from that of a gate
electrode layer of the thin film transistor 4509. The conductive
layer 4540 can also functions as a second gate electrode layer.
Alternatively, the potential of the conductive layer 4540 may be
GND or 0 V, or the conductive layer 4540 may be in a floating
state.
[0518] In addition, the conductive layer 4540 functions to block an
external electric field, that is, to prevent an external electric
field (particularly, to prevent static electricity) from effecting
the inside (a circuit portion including the thin film transistor).
A blocking function of the conductive layer 4540 can prevent
variation in electric characteristics of the thin film transistor
due to the effect of external electric field such as static
electricity.
[0519] Further, the insulating layer 4542 having defects which
covers the oxide semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor
4510 is formed. A source electrode layer or a drain electrode layer
of the thin film transistor 4510 is electrically connected to a
wiring layer 4550 in an opening formed in the insulating layer 4542
having defects and the insulating layer 4551 which are provided
over the thin film transistor. The wiring layer 4550 is formed in
contact with a first electrode 4517, and the thin film transistor
4510 is electrically connected to the first electrode 4517 via the
wiring layer 4550.
[0520] The insulating layer 4542 having defects can be formed using
a material and a method which are similar to those of the
insulating layer 116 having defects described in Embodiment 1.
[0521] A color filter layer 4545 is formed over the insulating
layer 4551 so as to overlap with a light-emitting region of a
light-emitting element 4511.
[0522] Further, in order to reduce surface roughness of the color
filter layer 4545, the color filter layer 4545 is covered with an
overcoat layer 4543 functioning as a planarization insulating
film.
[0523] Further, an insulating layer 4544 is formed over the
overcoat layer 4543. The insulating layer 4544 may be formed in a
manner similar to that of the protective insulating layer 103
described in Embodiment 1, and a silicon nitride film may be formed
by a sputtering method, for example.
[0524] Moreover, reference numeral 4511 denotes a light-emitting
element. A first electrode 4517 which is a pixel electrode included
in the light-emitting element 4511 is electrically connected to a
source electrode layer or a drain electrode layer of the thin film
transistor 4510 via the wiring layer 4550. Note that although the
light-emitting element 4511 has a stacked-layer structure including
the first electrode 4517, an electroluminescent layer 4512, and a
second electrode 4513 in this embodiment, the structure of the
light-emitting element 4511 is not limited thereto. The structure
of the light-emitting element 4511 can be changed as appropriate
depending on, for example, the direction in which light is
extracted from the light-emitting element 4511.
[0525] The partition 4520 is formed using an organic resin film, an
inorganic insulating film, or organic polysiloxane. It is
particularly preferable that the partition be formed using a
photosensitive material to have an opening over the first electrode
4517 and a sidewall of the opening be formed as an inclined surface
with a continuous curvature.
[0526] The electroluminescent layer 4512 may be formed as a single
layer or a stack of plural layers.
[0527] In order to prevent entry of oxygen, hydrogen, moisture,
carbon dioxide, or the like into the light-emitting element 4511, a
protective film may be formed over the second electrode 4513 and
the partition 4520. As the protective film, a silicon nitride film,
a silicon nitride oxide film, a DLC film, or the like can be
formed.
[0528] In addition, a variety of signals and potentials are
supplied from FPCs 4518a and 4518b to the signal line driver
circuits 4503a and 4503b, the scan line driver circuits 4504a and
4504b, or the pixel portion 4502.
[0529] A connection terminal electrode 4515 is formed using the
same conductive film as the first electrode 4517 included in the
light-emitting element 4511. A terminal electrode 4516 is formed
using the same conductive film as a source and drain electrode
layers included in the thin film transistors 4509.
[0530] The connection terminal electrode 4515 is electrically
connected to a terminal included in the FPC 4518a via an
anisotropic conductive film 4519.
[0531] The first substrate or the second substrate needs to have a
light-transmitting property if it is located in the direction in
which light is extracted from the light-emitting element 4511. In
that case, a light-transmitting material such as a glass plate, a
plastic plate, a polyester film, or an acrylic resin film is
used.
[0532] As the filler 4507, an ultraviolet curable resin or a
thermosetting resin can be used as well as an inert gas such as
nitrogen or argon. For example, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC),
acrylic, polyimide, an epoxy resin, a silicone resin, poly(vinyl
butyral) (PVB), or ethylene with vinyl acetate (EVA) can be used.
For example, nitrogen may be used as the filler.
[0533] If needed, an optical film such as a polarizing plate, a
circularly polarizing plate (including an elliptically polarizing
plate), or a retardation plate (a quarter-wave plate or a half-wave
plate) may be provided as appropriate on a light-emitting surface
of the light-emitting element. Further, the polarizing plate or the
circularly polarizing plate may be provided with an anti-reflection
film. For example, anti-glare treatment by which reflected light
can be diffused by projections and depressions of the surface so as
to reduce the glare can be performed.
[0534] The sealant can be formed by a screen printing method, an
ink jetting apparatus, or a dispensing apparatus. As the sealant,
typically, a material containing a visible light curable resin, an
ultraviolet curable resin, or a thermosetting resin can be used.
Further, a filler may be contained.
[0535] As the signal line driver circuits 4503a and 4503b and the
scan line driver circuits 4504a and 4504b, driver circuits formed
by using a single crystal semiconductor film or a polycrystalline
semiconductor film over a substrate separately prepared may be
mounted. Alternatively, only the signal line driver circuits or
part thereof, or only the scan line driver circuits or part thereof
may be separately formed and then mounted. The structure is not
limited to the structure illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B.
[0536] Through the above steps, a highly reliable light-emitting
display device (display panel) as a semiconductor device can be
manufactured.
[0537] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
Embodiment 12
[0538] The appearance and a cross section of a liquid crystal
display panel, which is one embodiment of a semiconductor device,
will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C. FIGS. 8A
and 8C are plan views of panels in which thin film transistors 4010
and 4011 and a liquid crystal element 4013 are sealed between a
first substrate 4001 and a second substrate 4006 with a sealant
4005. FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along line M-N in
FIG. 8A or FIG. 8C.
[0539] The sealant 4005 is provided so as to surround a pixel
portion 4002 and a scan line driver circuit 4004 which are provided
over the first substrate 4001. The second substrate 4006 is
provided over the pixel portion 4002 and the scan line driver
circuit 4004. Consequently, the pixel portion 4002 and the scan
line driver circuit 4004 are sealed together with a liquid crystal
layer 4008, by the first substrate 4001, the sealant 4005, and the
second substrate 4006. A signal line driver circuit 4003 that is
formed using a single crystal semiconductor film or a
polycrystalline semiconductor film over a substrate separately
prepared is mounted in a region that is different from the region
surrounded by the sealant 4005 over the first substrate 4001.
[0540] Note that there is no particular limitation on the
connection method of the driver circuit which is separately formed,
and a COG method, a wire bonding method, a TAB method, or the like
can be used. FIG. 8A illustrates an example in which the signal
line driver circuit 4003 is mounted by a COG method. FIG. 8C
illustrates an example in which the signal line driver circuit 4003
is mounted by a TAB method.
[0541] The pixel portion 4002 and the scan line driver circuit 4004
provided over the first substrate 4001 include a plurality of thin
film transistors. FIG. 8B illustrates the thin film transistor 4010
included in the pixel portion 4002 and the thin film transistor
4011 included in the scan line driver circuit 4004, as an example.
The oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 4043, an insulating layer
4041 having defects, a protective insulating layer 4042, and an
insulating layer 4021 are provided over the thin film transistors
4010 and 4011.
[0542] Any of the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9 can
be used as appropriate as the thin film transistors 4010 and 4011,
and they can be formed using steps and materials similar to those
for the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9. An
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 4043 is provided between an
oxide semiconductor layer and the insulating layer having defects.
As in Embodiment 1, an oxygen-excess mixed region may be provided
instead of the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer. An
oxygen-excess mixed region produces an effect similar to the effect
of the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer.
[0543] Since the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 4043 and the
insulating layer 4041 having defects have a high binding energy to
hydrogen or moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound including a
hydrogen atom such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities are stabilized
in the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 4043 and the insulating
layer 4041 having defects, these impurities can be diffused from
the oxide semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess oxide
insulating layer 4043 and the insulating layer 4041 having defects,
whereby these impurities can be removed from the oxide
semiconductor layer. Further, the oxygen-excess oxide insulating
layer 4043 functions as a barrier layer against impurities which
have been diffused into the insulating layer 4041 having defects to
prevent the impurities from entering the oxide semiconductor layer
again; thus, the impurity concentration of the oxide semiconductor
layer can be kept low. Accordingly, the thin film transistors 4010
and 4011 including the oxide semiconductor layer in which
impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride which
cause variation are reduced are highly reliable thin film
transistors with stable electric characteristics. In this
embodiment, the thin film transistors 4010 and 4011 are n-channel
thin film transistors.
[0544] A conductive layer 4040 is provided over part of the
insulating layer 4021, which overlaps with a channel formation
region in an oxide semiconductor layer in the thin film transistor
4011 for the driver circuit. The conductive layer 4040 is provided
at the position overlapping with the channel formation region in
the oxide semiconductor layer, whereby the amount of change in
threshold voltage of the thin film transistor 4011 before and after
BT test can be reduced. A potential of the conductive layer 4040
may be the same or different from that of a gate electrode layer of
the thin film transistor 4011. The conductive layer 4040 can also
functions as a second gate electrode layer. Alternatively, the
potential of the conductive layer 4040 may be GND or 0 V, or the
conductive layer 4044 may be in a floating state.
[0545] In addition, the conductive layer 4040 functions to block an
external electric field, that is, to prevent an external electric
field (particularly, to prevent static electricity) from effecting
the inside (a circuit portion including the thin film transistor).
A blocking function of the conductive layer 4040 can prevent
variation in electric characteristics of the thin film transistor
due to the effect of external electric field such as static
electricity.
[0546] A pixel electrode layer 4030 included in the liquid crystal
element 4013 is electrically connected to a source electrode layer
or a drain electrode layer of the thin film transistor 4010. A
counter electrode layer 4031 of the liquid crystal element 4013 is
provided on the second substrate 4006. A portion where the pixel
electrode layer 4030, the counter electrode layer 4031, and the
liquid crystal layer 4008 overlap with one another corresponds to
the liquid crystal element 4013. Note that the pixel electrode
layer 4030 and the counter electrode layer 4031 are provided with
an insulating layer 4032 and an insulating layer 4033 functioning
as alignment films, respectively, and the liquid crystal layer 4008
is sandwiched between the pixel electrode layer 4030 and the
counter electrode layer 4031 with the insulating layers 4032 and
4033 interposed therebetween.
[0547] Note that a light-transmitting substrate can be used as the
first substrate 4001 and the second substrate 4006; glass,
ceramics, or plastics can be used. The plastic can be a
fiberglass-reinforced plastics (FRP) plate, a polyvinyl fluoride
(PVF) film, a polyester film, or an acrylic resin film.
[0548] Reference numeral 4035 denotes a columnar spacer which is
obtained by selective etching of an insulating film and provided in
order to control the distance (a cell gap) between the pixel
electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrode layer 4031. Note
that a spherical spacer may be used. The counter electrode layer
4031 is electrically connected to a common potential line formed
over the substrate where the thin film transistor 4010 is formed.
The counter electrode layer 4031 and the common potential line can
be electrically connected to each other via conductive particles
arranged between a pair of substrates using the common connection
portion. Note that the conductive particles are included in the
sealant 4005.
[0549] Alternatively, liquid crystal exhibiting a blue phase for
which an alignment film is unnecessary may be used. A blue phase is
one of liquid crystal phases, which is generated just before a
cholesteric phase changes into an isotropic phase while the
temperature of cholesteric liquid crystal is increased. Since the
blue phase is generated within an only narrow range of temperature,
a liquid crystal composition containing a chiral agent at 5 wt % or
more is used for the liquid crystal layer 4008 in order to improve
the temperature range. The liquid crystal composition including
liquid crystal exhibiting a blue phase and a chiral agent has a
short response time of 1 msec or less and is optically isotropic;
therefore, alignment treatment is not necessary and viewing angle
dependence is small. In addition, since an alignment film does not
need to be provided and rubbing treatment is unnecessary,
electrostatic breakdown caused by rubbing treatment can be
prevented and defects and damage of the liquid crystal display
device can be reduced in the manufacturing process. Thus, the
productivity of the liquid crystal display device can be increased.
A thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer
particularly has a possibility that electric characteristics of the
thin film transistor may significantly change and deviate from the
designed range by the influence of static electricity. Therefore,
it is more effective to use a blue phase liquid crystal material
for a liquid crystal display device including a thin film
transistor that includes an oxide semiconductor layer.
[0550] Note that this embodiment can also be applied to a
transflective liquid crystal display device in addition to a
transmissive liquid crystal display device.
[0551] Although, a polarizing plate is provided on the outer
surface of the substrate (on the viewer side) and a coloring layer
and an electrode layer used for a display element are sequentially
provided on the inner surface of the substrate in the example of
the liquid crystal display device, the polarizing plate may be
provided on the inner surface of the substrate. The stacked-layer
structure of the polarizing plate and the coloring layer is not
limited to the structure in this embodiment and may be set as
appropriate depending on materials of the polarizing plate and the
coloring layer or conditions of the manufacturing process. Further,
a light-blocking film functioning as a black matrix may be provided
in a portion other than the display portion.
[0552] The oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 4043 and the
insulating layer 4041 having defects are stacked in contact with
the oxide semiconductor layer over the thin film transistors 4011
and 4010. The oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 4043 can be
formed using a material and a method which are similar to those of
the oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer 139 described in
Embodiment 2. The insulating layer 4041 having defects can be
formed using a material and a method which are similar to those of
the insulating layer 116 having defects described in Embodiment
1.
[0553] Further, the protective insulating layer 4042 is formed on
and in contact with the insulating layer 4041 having defects. The
protective insulating layer 4042 can be formed in a manner similar
to that of the protective insulating layer 103 described in
Embodiment 1, and a silicon nitride film can be used, for example.
Further, in order to reduce surface roughness of the thin film
transistors, the protective insulating layer 4042 is covered with
the insulating layer 4021 functioning as a planarization insulating
film.
[0554] The insulating layer 4021 is formed as the planarizing
insulating film. For the insulating layer 4021, a heat-resistant
organic material such as polyimide, acrylic, benzocyclobutene,
polyamide, or epoxy can be used. As an alternative to such organic
materials, it is possible to use a low-dielectric constant material
(a low-k material), a siloxane-based resin, phosphosilicate glass
(PSG), borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), or the like. Note that the
insulating layer 4021 may be formed by stacking a plurality of
insulating films formed of these materials.
[0555] There is no particular limitation on the method for forming
the insulating layer 4021. Depending on the material, insulating
layer 4021 can be formed by a method such as sputtering method, an
SOG method, a spin coating method, a dipping method, a spray
coating method, or a droplet discharge method (e.g., an ink jetting
method, screen printing, or offset printing), or by using a tool
(apparatus) such as a doctor knife, a roll coater, a curtain
coater, a knife coater, or the like. When the baking step of the
insulating layer 4021 and the annealing of the semiconductor layer
are combined, a semiconductor device can be manufactured
efficiently.
[0556] The pixel electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrode
layer 4031 can be formed using a light-transmitting conductive
material such as indium oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium
zinc oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium oxide containing
titanium oxide, indium tin oxide containing titanium oxide, indium
tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as ITO), indium zinc oxide, or
indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added.
[0557] Conductive compositions including a conductive high molecule
(also referred to as a conductive polymer) can be used for the
pixel electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrode layer 4031.
The pixel electrode formed using the conductive composition
preferably has a sheet resistance of 10000 .OMEGA./square or less
and a light transmittance of 70% or more at a wavelength of 550 nm.
Further, the resistivity of the conductive high molecule included
in the conductive composition is preferably 0.1.OMEGA.cm or
less.
[0558] As the conductive high molecule, a so-called .pi.-electron
conjugated conductive polymer can be used. Examples include
polyaniline and a derivative thereof, polypyrrole and a derivative
thereof, polythiophene and a derivative thereof, and a copolymer of
two or more of these materials.
[0559] Further, a variety of signals and potentials are supplied to
the signal line driver circuit 4003 which is separately formed, the
scan line driver circuit 4004, or the pixel portion 4002 from an
FPC 4018.
[0560] A connection terminal electrode 4015 is formed using the
same conductive film as the pixel electrode layer 4030 included in
the liquid crystal element 4013. A terminal electrode 4016 is
formed using the same conductive film as a source and drain
electrode layers included in the thin film transistors 4010 and
4011.
[0561] The connection terminal electrode 4015 is electrically
connected to a terminal included in the FPC 4018 via an anisotropic
conductive film 4019.
[0562] Note that FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C illustrate the example in
which the signal line driver circuit 4003 is formed separately and
mounted on the first substrate 4001; however, this embodiment is
not limited to this structure. The scan line driver circuit may be
separately formed and then mounted, or only part of the signal line
driver circuit or part of the scan line driver circuit may be
separately formed and then mounted.
[0563] A black matrix (a light-blocking layer), an optical member
(an optical substrate) such as a polarizing member, a retardation
member, or an anti-reflection member, and the like are provided as
appropriate. For example, circular polarization may be obtained by
using a polarizing substrate and a retardation substrate. In
addition, a backlight, a side light, or the like may be used as a
light source.
[0564] In an active matrix liquid crystal display device, pixel
electrodes arranged in a matrix are driven to form a display
pattern on a screen. Specifically, voltage is applied between a
selected pixel electrode and a counter electrode corresponding to
the pixel electrode, so that a liquid crystal layer provided
between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode is optically
modulated and this optical modulation is recognized as a display
pattern by an observer.
[0565] In displaying moving images, a liquid crystal display device
has a problem that a long response time of liquid crystal molecules
causes afterimages or blurring of moving images. In order to
improve the moving-image characteristics of a liquid crystal
display device, a driving method called black insertion is employed
in which black is displayed on the whole screen every other frame
period.
[0566] Further, a driving method called double-frame rate driving
may be employed in which a vertical synchronizing frequency is set
1.5 times or more, or 2 times or more as high as a usual vertical
synchronizing frequency to improve the response speed.
[0567] Further alternatively, in order to improve the moving-image
characteristics of a liquid crystal display device, a driving
method may be employed in which a plurality of LEDs (light-emitting
diodes) or a plurality of EL light sources are used to form a
surface light source as a backlight, and each light source of the
surface light source is independently driven in a pulsed manner in
one frame period. As the surface light source, three or more kinds
of LEDs may be used or an LED emitting white light may be used.
Since a plurality of LEDs can be controlled independently, the
timing at which the LED emits light can be synchronized with the
timing at which the liquid crystal layer is optically modulated. In
this driving method, part of the LEDs can be turned off; therefore,
an effect of reducing power consumption can be obtained
particularly in the case of displaying an image having a large
black part.
[0568] By combining these driving methods, the display
characteristics of a liquid crystal display device, such as
moving-image characteristics, can be improved as compared to those
of conventional liquid crystal display devices.
[0569] Since the thin film transistor is easily broken due to
static electricity or the like, a protective circuit is preferably
provided over the same substrate as the pixel portion and the
driver circuit. The protective circuit is preferably formed using a
non-linear element including an oxide semiconductor layer. For
example, a protective circuit is provided between the pixel portion
and a scan line input terminal and between the pixel portion and a
signal line input terminal In this embodiment, a plurality of
protective circuits are provided so as to prevent breakage of the a
pixel transistor and the like which can be caused when a surge
voltage due to static electricity or the like is applied to a scan
line, a signal line, and a capacitor bus line. The protective
circuit is formed so as to release charge to a common wiring when a
surge voltage is applied to the protective circuit. Further, the
protective circuit includes non-linear elements arranged in
parallel to each other with the scan line therebetween. The
non-linear element is a two-terminal element such as a diode or a
three-terminal element such as a transistor. For example, the
non-linear element can be formed in the same steps as the thin film
transistor in the pixel portion. For example, characteristics
similar to those of a diode can be obtained by connection of a gate
terminal to a drain terminal of the non-linear element.
[0570] For the liquid crystal display module, a twisted nematic
(TN) mode, an in-plane-switching (IPS) mode, a fringe field
switching (FFS) mode, an axially symmetric aligned micro-cell (ASM)
mode, an optically compensated birefringence (OCB) mode, a
ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mode, an antiferroelectric
liquid crystal (AFLC) mode, or the like can be employed.
[0571] There is no particular limitation in the semiconductor
device disclosed in this specification, and a liquid crystal
display device including a TN liquid crystal, an OCB liquid
crystal, an STN liquid crystal, a VA liquid crystal, an ECB liquid
crystal, a GH liquid crystal, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal, a
discotic liquid crystal, or the like can be used. In particular, a
normally black liquid crystal panel such as a transmissive liquid
crystal display device utilizing a vertical alignment (VA) mode is
preferable. Some examples are given as the vertical alignment mode.
For example, a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode, a
patterned vertical alignment (PVA) mode, and an ASV mode can be
used.
[0572] Further, this embodiment can also be applied to a VA liquid
crystal display device. The VA mode of a liquid crystal display
device is a kind of mode in which alignment of liquid crystal
molecules of a liquid crystal display panel is controlled. In the
VA liquid crystal display device, liquid crystal molecules are
aligned in a vertical direction with respect to a panel surface
when no voltage is applied. Further, a method called multi-domain
or multi-domain design, by which a pixel is divided into some
regions (subpixels), and liquid crystal molecules are aligned in
different directions in their respective regions, can be used.
[0573] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
Embodiment 13
[0574] In this embodiment, an example of an electronic paper will
be described as a semiconductor device of an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0575] FIG. 12 illustrates an active matrix electronic paper as an
example of a semiconductor device to which an embodiment of the
present invention is applied. Any of the thin film transistors in
Embodiments 1 to 9 can be used as appropriate as a thin film
transistor 581, and the thin film transistor 581 can be formed
using steps and materials similar to those for the thin film
transistors in Embodiments 1 to 9. The thin film transistor 581
includes an oxygen-excess mixed region between an oxide
semiconductor layer and the insulating layer 583 having defects. As
in Embodiment 2, an oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer may be
provided instead of the oxygen-excess mixed region. An
oxygen-excess oxide insulating layer produces an effect similar to
the effect of the oxygen-excess mixed region.
[0576] Since the oxygen-excess mixed region and the insulating
layer 583 having defects have a high binding energy to hydrogen or
moisture (a hydrogen atom or a compound including a hydrogen atom
such as H.sub.2O) and these impurities are stabilized in the
oxygen-excess mixed region and the insulating layer having many
defects, these impurities can be diffused from the oxide
semiconductor layer into the oxygen-excess mixed region and the
insulating layer 583 having defects, whereby these impurities are
removed from the oxide semiconductor layer. Further, the
oxygen-excess mixed region functions as a barrier layer against
impurities which have been diffused into the insulating layer 583
having defects to prevent the impurities from entering the oxide
semiconductor layer again; thus, the impurity concentration of the
oxide semiconductor layer can be kept low. Accordingly, the thin
film transistor 581 including an oxide semiconductor layer in which
impurities such as hydrogen, moisture, hydroxyl, or hydride (also
referred to as a hydrogen compound) which cause variation are
reduced are highly reliable thin film transistors with stable
electric characteristics.
[0577] The electronic paper of FIG. 12 is an example of a display
device in which a twisting ball display system is employed. The
twisting ball display system refers to a method in which spherical
particles each colored in black and white are arranged between a
first electrode layer and a second electrode layer which are
electrode layers used in a display element, and a potential
difference is generated between the first electrode layer and the
second electrode layer to control orientation of the spherical
particles, so that display is performed.
[0578] The thin film transistor 581 provided over a substrate 580
is a bottom-gate thin film transistor. A source electrode layer or
a drain electrode layer of the thin film transistor 581 is in
contact with and electrically connected to a first electrode layer
587 in an opening formed in the insulating layer 583 having
defects, a protective insulating layer 584, and in an insulating
layer 585.
[0579] Between the first electrode layer 587 and a second electrode
layer 588 formed on a substrate 596, spherical particles each
having a black region 590a, a white region 590b, and a cavity 594
filled with liquid around the regions are provided. Space around
the spherical particles is filled with a filler 595 such as a resin
(see FIG. 12). In this embodiment, the first electrode layer 587
corresponds to a pixel electrode, and the second electrode layer
588 on the counter substrate 596 corresponds to a common
electrode.
[0580] Further, instead of the twisting ball, an electrophoretic
element can be used. A microcapsule having a diameter of about 10
.mu.m to 200 .mu.m in which transparent liquid, positively charged
white microparticles, and negatively charged black microparticles
are encapsulated, is used. In the microcapsules which are provided
between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer,
when an electric field is applied by the first electrode layer and
the second electrode layer, the white microparticles and the black
microparticles move to opposite sides from each other, so that
white or black can be displayed. A display element using this
principle is an electrophoretic display element and is called an
electronic paper in general. The electrophoretic display element
has higher reflectance than a liquid crystal display element, and
thus, an auxiliary light is unnecessary, power consumption is low,
and a display portion can be recognized in a dim environment. In
addition, even when power is not supplied to the display portion,
an image which has been displayed once can be maintained.
Accordingly, a displayed image can be stored even when the
semiconductor device having a display function (which may be
referred to simply as a display device or a semiconductor device
provided with a display device) is distanced from a radiowave
source.
[0581] Through the above steps, a highly reliable electronic paper
as a semiconductor device can be manufactured.
[0582] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
Embodiment 14
[0583] The semiconductor device disclosed in this specification can
be applied to a variety of electronic devices (including game
machines). Examples of such electronic devices are a television
device (also referred to as a television or a television receiver),
a monitor of a computer or the like, a camera such as a digital
camera or a digital video camera, a digital photo frame, a mobile
phone handset (also referred to as a mobile phone or a mobile phone
device), a portable game console, a portable information terminal,
an audio playback device, a large-sized game machine such as a
pinball machine, and the like.
[0584] FIG. 13A illustrates a cellular phone 1600. The cellular
phone 1600 includes a housing 1601 in which a display portion 1602
is incorporated, operation buttons 1603a and 1603b, an external
connection port 1604, a speaker and 1605, microphone 1606.
[0585] Information can be input to the cellular phone 1600
illustrated in FIG. 13A by touching the display portion 1602 with a
finger or the like. Further, operation such as making calls and
texting can be performed by touching the display portion 1602 with
a finger or the like.
[0586] There are mainly three screen modes of the display portion
1602. The first mode is a display mode mainly for displaying
images. The second mode is an input mode mainly for inputting data
such as text. The third mode is a display-and-input mode in which
two modes of the display mode and the input mode are combined.
[0587] For example, in the case of making a call or texting, the
display portion 1602 is placed in a text input mode mainly for
inputting text, and characters displayed on a screen can be input.
In this case, it is preferable to display a keyboard or number
buttons on almost the entire area of the screen of the display
portion 1602.
[0588] When a detection device including a sensor for detecting
inclination, such as a gyroscope or an acceleration sensor, is
provided inside the cellular phone 1600, display on the screen of
the display portion 1602 can be automatically switched by detecting
the direction of the cellular phone 1600 (whether the cellular
phone 1600 is placed horizontally or vertically for a landscape
mode or a portrait mode).
[0589] Further, the screen modes are switched by touching the
display portion 1602 or operating the operation button 1603 of the
housing 1601. Alternatively, the screen modes can be switched
depending on kinds of images displayed on the display portion 1602.
For example, when a signal for an image displayed on the display
portion is data of moving images, the screen mode is switched to
the display mode. When the signal is text data, the screen mode is
switched to the input mode.
[0590] Further, in the input mode, a signal is detected by an
optical sensor in the display portion 1602 and if input by touching
the display portion 1602 is not performed for a certain period, the
screen mode may be controlled so as to be switched from the input
mode to the display mode.
[0591] The display portion 1602 can also function as an image
sensor. For example, an image of a palm print, a fingerprint, or
the like is taken by touching the display portion 1602 with the
palm or the finger, whereby personal authentication can be
performed. Moreover, when a backlight or sensing light source which
emits near-infrared light is provided in the display portion, an
image of finger veins, palm veins, or the like can be taken.
[0592] Any of the semiconductor devices described in the above
embodiments can be applied to the display portion 1602. For
example, a plurality of thin film transistors described in the
above embodiments can be arranged as switching elements in
pixels.
[0593] FIG. 13B illustrates another example of a cellular phone. A
portable information terminal such as the one illustrated in FIG.
13B can have a plurality of functions. For example, in addition to
a telephone function, such a portable information terminal can have
a function of processing a variety of pieces of data by
incorporating a computer.
[0594] The portable information terminal illustrated in FIG. 13B
includes a housing 1800 and a housing 1801. The housing 1800
includes a display panel 1802, a speaker 1803, a microphone 1804, a
pointing device 1806, a camera lens 1807, an external connection
terminal 1808, and the like. The housing 1801 includes a keyboard
1810, an external memory slot 1811, and the like. In addition, an
antenna is incorporated in the housing 1801.
[0595] Further, the display panel 1802 functions as a touch screen.
A plurality of operation keys 1805 which is displayed is indicated
by dashed lines in FIG. 13B.
[0596] Further, in addition to the above structure, a contactless
IC chip, a small memory device, or the like may be
incorporated.
[0597] Any of the semiconductor devices described in the above
embodiments can be used for the display panel 1802 and the
orientation of display is changed as appropriate depending on an
application mode. Further, the camera lens 1807 is provided in the
same plane as the display portion 1802; therefore, the portable
information terminal can be used for videophone calls. The speaker
1803 and the microphone 1804 can be used for videophone calls,
recording and playing sound, and the like without being limited to
voice calls. Moreover, the housings 1800 and 1801 which are
developed in FIG. 13B can be slid so that one is lapped over the
other; therefore, the size of the portable information terminal can
be reduced, which makes the portable information terminal suitable
for being carried.
[0598] The external connection terminal 1808 can be connected to an
AC adaptor and various types of cables such as a USB cable so that
charging and data communication with a personal computer or the
like are possible. Furthermore, a large amount of data can be
stored and moved with a storage medium inserted into the external
memory slot 1811.
[0599] In addition to the above described functions, the portable
information terminal may have an infrared communication function, a
television receiver function, and the like.
[0600] FIG. 14A illustrates a television device 9600. In the
television device 9600, a display portion 9603 is incorporated in a
housing 9601. The display portion 9603 can display images. Here,
the housing 9601 is supported by a stand 9605.
[0601] The television device 9600 can be operated with an operation
switch of the housing 9601 or a separate remote control 9610.
Channels can be switched and volume can be controlled with
operation keys 9609 of the remote control 9610, whereby an image
displayed on the display portion 9603 can be controlled. Moreover,
the remote control 9610 may be provided with a display portion 9607
for displaying data output from the remote control 9610.
[0602] Note that the television device 9600 is provided with a
receiver, a modem, and the like. With the receiver, general TV
broadcasts can be received. Moreover, when the display device is
connected to a communication network with or without wires via the
modem, one-way (from a sender to a receiver) or two-way (e.g.,
between a sender and a receiver or between receivers) information
communication can be performed.
[0603] Any of the semiconductor devices described in the above
embodiments can be applied to the display portion 9603. For
example, a plurality of thin film transistors described in the
above embodiments can be arranged as switching elements in
pixels.
[0604] FIG. 14B illustrates a digital photo frame 9700. For
example, in a digital photo frame 9700, a display portion 9703 is
incorporated in a housing 9701. The display portion 9703 can
display a variety of images. For example, the display portion 9703
can display image data taken with a digital camera or the like and
function like a normal photo frame.
[0605] Any of the semiconductor devices described in the above
embodiments can be applied to the display portion 9703. For
example, a plurality of thin film transistors described in the
above embodiments can be arranged as switching elements in
pixels.
[0606] Note that the digital photo frame 9700 is provided with an
operation portion, an external connection terminal (a USB terminal,
a terminal connectable to a variety of cables such as a USB cable),
a storage medium insertion portion, and the like. Although these
components may be provided on the same surface as the display
portion, it is preferable to provide them on the side surface or
the back surface for design aesthetics. For example, a storage
medium storing image data taken with a digital camera is inserted
into the storage medium insertion portion of the digital photo
frame and the data is loaded, whereby the image can be displayed on
the display portion 9703.
[0607] The digital photo frame 9700 may be configured to transmit
and receive data wirelessly. Through wireless communication,
desired image data can be loaded to be displayed.
[0608] FIG. 15 illustrates a portable game console including two
housings, a housing 9881 and a housing 9891 which are jointed with
a joint portion 9893 so that the portable game console can be
opened or folded. A display portion 9882 and a display portion 9883
are incorporated in the housing 9881 and the housing 9891,
respectively.
[0609] Any of the semiconductor devices described in the above
embodiments can be applied to the display portion 9883. For
example, a plurality of thin film transistors described in the
above embodiments can be arranged as switching elements in
pixels.
[0610] In addition, the portable game console illustrated in FIG.
15 is provided with a speaker portion 9884, a storage medium
insertion portion 9886, an LED lamp 9890, input means (operation
keys 9885, a connection terminal 9887, a sensor 9888 (having a
function of measuring force, displacement, position, speed,
acceleration, angular velocity, rotation number, distance, light,
liquid, magnetism, temperature, chemical substance, sound, time,
hardness, electric field, current, voltage, electric power, radial
ray, flow rate, humidity, gradient, vibration, smell, or infrared
ray), and a microphone 9889), and the like. Needless to say, the
structure of the portable game console is not limited to the above
and another structure which is provided with at least the thin film
transistor disclosed in this specification can be employed. The
portable game console may include an additional accessory as
appropriate. The portable game console illustrated in FIG. 15 has a
function of reading a program or data stored in a storage medium to
display it on the display portion, and a function of sharing data
with another portable game console by wireless communication. Note
that a function of the portable game console illustrated in FIG. 15
is not limited to those described above, and the portable game
console can have a variety of functions.
[0611] FIG. 17 illustrates an example in which the light-emitting
device which is an example of the semiconductor device formed
according to any of the above embodiments is used as an indoor
lighting device 3001. Since a light-emitting device described in
this specification can have a large area, the light-emitting device
can be used as a lighting device having a large emission area. In
addition, any of the light-emitting devices described in the above
embodiments can also be used as a desk lamp 3002. Note that the
lighting equipment includes in its category, a ceiling light, a
wall light, a vehicle interior light, an emergency exit light, and
the like.
[0612] As described above, the semiconductor device described in
any of Embodiments 1 to 9 can be applied to a display panel of a
variety of electronic devices described above and highly reliable
electronic appliances can be provided.
Embodiment 15
[0613] The semiconductor device disclosed in this specification can
be applied to an electronic paper. An electronic paper can be used
for electronic devices for displaying information in all fields.
For example, an electronic paper can be applied to an electronic
book reader (an e-book reader), a poster, an advertisement in a
vehicle such as a train, or a display of a variety of cards such as
a credit card. FIG. 16 illustrates examples of the electronic
devices.
[0614] FIG. 16 illustrates an electronic book reader 2700. For
example, an electronic book reader 2700 includes two housings, a
housing 2701 and a housing 2703. The housing 2701 and the housing
2703 are combined with a hinge 2711 so that the electronic book
reader 2700 can be opened and closed along the hinge 2711. With
such a structure, the electronic book reader 2700 can be handled
like a paper book.
[0615] A display portion 2705 and a display portion 2707 are
incorporated in the housing 2701 and the housing 2703,
respectively. The display portion 2705 and the display portion 2707
may display one image or different images. In the case where the
display portion 2705 and the display portion 2707 display different
images, for example, a display portion on the right (the display
portion 2705 in FIG. 16) can display text and a display portion on
the left (the display portion 2707 in FIG. 16) can display an
image.
[0616] FIG. 16 illustrates an example in which the housing 2701 is
provided with an operation portion and the like. For example, the
housing 2701 is provided with a power supply switch 2721, operation
keys 2723, a speaker 2725, and the like. Pages can be turned with
the operation keys 2723. Note that a keyboard, a pointing device,
and the like may be provided on the same surface as the display
portion of the housing. Moreover, an external connection terminal
(an earphone terminal, a USB terminal, a terminal connectable to a
variety of cables such as an AC adapter or a USB cable), a storage
medium insertion portion, and the like may be provided on the back
surface or the side surface of the housing. Moreover, the
electronic book reader 2700 may have a function of an electronic
dictionary.
[0617] The electronic book reader 2700 may be configured to
wirelessly transmit and receive data. Through wireless
communication, desired book data or the like can be purchased and
downloaded from an electronic book server.
[0618] This embodiment can be implemented in appropriate
combination with another embodiment.
[0619] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application
serial no. 2009-249876 filed with Japan Patent Office on Oct. 30,
2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by
reference.
* * * * *