The device performance of amorphous In-Zn-O (a-IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with printed Cu contacts was significantly improved by the insertion of a diffusion barrier Ta layer and rapid thermal process (RTP) annealing. Furnace-annealed a-IZO TFTs with Cu/Ta contacts exhibited mobility values of 21.3 cm(2)/Vs, subthreshold gate swing (SS) values of 1.9 V/decade, and I-ON/OFF of similar to 10(6). In contrast, the SS, mobility, and I-ON/OFF ratio of RTP-annealed a-IZO TFTs with Cu/Ta contacts were 30.6 cm(2)/Vs, 0.68 V/decade, and 3 x 10(7), respectively. We attributed the performance improvement of devices with Cu/Ta contacts to the suppression of Cu in-diffusion within the a-IZO channel due to the rapid heating associated with RTP annealing. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.