In 1985, Noboru Kimizuka of the National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials, Japan had pioneered the idea of polycrystalline indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) ceramics, with the general chemical formula (InGaO3)m(ZnO)n (m, n = natural number; hereafter referred to as IGZO-mn). Little would he have thought that its curious electrical properties would bring the electronics industry to license thin-film transistors (TFTs) made from these metal oxides for various devices, including touchable displays. However, this did not come easy. Even today, many of the characteristics of pure IGZO crystals remain unknown owing to their difficult extraction procedure. Then what makes them tantalizing?
* This article was originally published here
