Work

Ultrathin high-mobility hydrogen-doped indium oxide films

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Hydrogen-doped indium oxide (IHO) is a unique photonic material because of its high carrier mobility, strong plasma dispersion effect, and low optical absorption at both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Existing research has mostly focused on films thicker than 100 nm, which is different from their potential role as an electro-optic material in photonic integrated circuits, where ultrathin films are required. This study examined IHO films with thicknesses ranging from 6 to 88 nm by characterizing their morphologies, electrical, and optical properties. The carrier mobility increased from 36 to 112 cm 2 /V·s with increasing thickness owing to the reduced grain boundary electron scattering. Additionally, we observed that IHO films thinner than 25 nm exhibited significant mobility loss after 8 months of exposure to air but were fully recovered by re-annealing at 230 °C in a nitrogen gas environment, which might be attributed to reactivated hydrogen dopant.

Source: Optical Materials Express

DOI: 10.1364/ome.585426

Authors: Saika Muntaha Bari, M. Saifur Rahman, Kang Rong, Sudipta Biswas, Sandra Achieng, Alan X. Wang

Language: English

Topic: Thin-Film Transistor Technologies

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,843

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Army Research Office

Awards: PFI-TT: Improving Silicon Photonics Process with Conductive Oxide Material for Energy-Efficient Communication and Computing, G3641408822, G5317865113, ASCENT: Large-Scale Electronic-Photonic Circuits with Heterogeneously Integrated Conductive Oxide for High-throughput and Energy-efficient Computing