Juyoung Yoon, a Ph.D. student at POSTECH’s Department of Electrical Engineering (co-author: Dowan Kang, advisor: Prof. Yoonyoung Jung), won the Grand Prize at the Samsung Display Industry-Academia Cooperation Paper Competition for the paper titled “Improving Contact Resistance and Thermal Stability of Sub-µm a-IGZO Transistors for Next-Generation Displays.”

The paper presents a novel approach to simultaneously improve the contact resistance and thermal stability of the oxide semiconductor/metal interface, a key technology for realizing next-generation high-resolution displays. While oxide semiconductors offer various advantages, their low electron mobility and high contact resistance made them unsuitable for high pixel density displays compared to silicon materials.

In this study, the researchers proposed inserting an ultra-thin insulating layer between the oxide semiconductor and metal to effectively prevent metal-oxide formation at the interface. This method significantly improved the contact resistance, enhancing the electrical characteristics of short-channel devices. At the same time, it minimized performance degradation due to heat, contributing to the long-term stability of display devices and the realization of high-resolution displays, earning high recognition.