Low-Temperature Materials and Thin Film Transistors for Flexible Electronics

This paper addresses the low-temperature deposition processes and electronic properties of silicon based thin film semiconductors and dielectrics to enable the fabrication of mechanically flexible electronic devices on plastic substrates. Device quality amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H), nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si), and amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN/sub x/) films and thin film transistors (TFTs) were made using existing industrial plasma deposition equipment at the process temperatures as low as 75/spl deg/C and 120/spl deg/C. The a-Si:H TFTs fabricated at 120/spl deg/C demonstrate performance similar to their high-temperature counterparts, including the field effect mobility (/spl mu//sub FE/) of 0.8 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/, the threshold voltage (V/sub T/) of 4.5 V, and the subthreshold slope of 0.5 V/dec, and can be used in active matrix (AM) displays including organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. The a-Si:H TFTs fabricated at 75/spl deg/C exhibit /spl mu//sub FE/ of 0.6 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/, and V/sub T/ of 4 V. It is shown that further improvement in TFT performance can be achieved by using n/sup +/ nc-Si contact layers and plasma treatments of the interface between the gate dielectric and the channel layer. The results demonstrate that with appropriate process optimization, the large area thin film Si technology suits well the fabrication of electronic devices on low-cost plastic substrates.     

High mobility nanocrystalline silicon transistors on clear plastic substrates

We demonstrate nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) top-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) on optically clear, flexible plastic foil substrates. The silicon layers were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at a substrate temperature of 150/spl deg/C. The n-channel nc-Si TFTs have saturation electron mobilities of 18 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/ and transconductances of 0.22 /spl mu/S/spl mu/m/sup -1/. With a channel width to length ratio of 2, these TFTs deliver up to 0.1 mA to bottom emitting electrophosphorescent organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) which were fabricated on a separate glass substrate. These results suggest that high-current, small-area OLED driver TFTs can be made by a low-temperature process, compatible with flexible clear plastic substrates.     

Self-aligned amorphous-silicon TFTs on clear plastic substrates

We fabricated the first bottom-gate amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistors (TFTs) on a clear plastic substrate with source and drain self-aligned to the gate. The top source and drain are self-aligned to the bottom gate by backside exposure photolithography through the plastic substrate and the TFT tri-layer. The a-Si:H channel in the tri-layer is made only 30 nm thick to ensure high optical transparency at the exposure wavelength of 405 nm. The TFTs have a threshold voltage of /spl sim/3 V, subthreshold slope of /spl sim/0.5 V/dec, linear mobility of /spl sim/1 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/ s/sup -1/, saturation mobility of /spl sim/0.8 cm/sup 2/V/sup -1/s/sup -1/, and on/off current ratio of >10/sup 6/. These results show that self-alignment by backside exposure provides a solution to the fundamental challenge of making electronics on plastics: overlay misalignment.     

Stability of amorphous-silicon TFTs deposited on clear plastic substrates at 250/spl deg/C to 280/spl deg/ C

Amorphous-silicon (a-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated on a free-standing new clear plastic substrate with high glass transition temperature (T/sub g/) of >315/spl deg/ C and low coefficient of thermal expansion of <10 ppm/ /spl deg/ C. Maximum process temperatures on the substrates were 250/spl deg/C and 280/spl deg/C, close to the temperatures used in industrial a-Si TFT production on glass substrates. The first TFTs made at 280/spl deg/C have dc characteristics comparable to TFTs made on glass. The stability of the 250/spl deg/C TFTs on clear plastic is approaching that of TFTs made on glass at 300/spl deg/C-350/spl deg/C. TFT characteristics and stability depend only on process temperature and not on substrate type.     

Thin-film transistors on plastic and glass substrates using silicon deposited by microwave plasma ECR-CVD

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated on polyimide and glass substrates at low temperatures using microwave ECR-CVD deposited amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon as active layers. The amorphous Si TFT fabricated at 200 /spl deg/C on the polyimide foil had a saturation region field effect mobility of 4.5 cm/sup 2//V-s, a linear region mobility of 5.1 cm/sup 2//V-s, a threshold voltage of 3.7 V, a subthreshold swing of 0.69 V/decade, and an ON/OFF current ratio of 7.9 /spl times/ 10/sup 6/. This large mobility and high ON/OFF current ratio were attributed to the high-quality channel materials with less dangling bond defect states. Nanocrystalline Si TFTs fabricated on glass substrates at 400 /spl deg/C showed a saturation region mobility of 14.1 cm/sup 2//V-s, a linear region mobility of 15.3 cm/sup 2//V-s, a threshold voltage of 3.6 V, and an ON/OFF current ratio of 6.7 /spl times/ 10/sup 6/. TFT performance was mostly independent of substrate type when fabrication conditions were the same.     

Top-gate TFTs using 13.56 MHz PECVD microcrystalline silicon

Top-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) with microcrystalline silicon (/spl mu/c-Si) channel layers deposited using standard 13.56 MHz plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition were fabricated at a maximum processing temperature of 250/spl deg/C. The TFTs employ amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN) as the gate dielectric layer. The 80-nm-thick /spl mu/c-Si channel layer showed a dark conductivity of the order of 10/sup -7/ S/cm and a crystalline volume fraction of over 80%. The /spl mu/c-Si TFTs showed a field effect mobility of 0.85 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, a threshold voltage of 4.8 V, a subthreshold slope of 1 V/dec, and an ON/OFF current ratio of /spl sim/10/sup 7/. More importantly, the TFTs were very stable under gate bias stress, offering promise for organic light-emitting display (OLED) applications.     

a-Si:H TFTs using low-temperature CVD of Si/sub 3/H/sub 8/

a-Si:H layers have been deposited by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) at 350 degrees C using Si/sub 3/H/sub 8/ as the source gas. Inverted staggered gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated with plasma-CVD-grown SiN/sub x/ as the gate insulator. Electron field-effect mobilities of 0.45 cm/sup 2//Vs were obtained and the on/off ratio in the drain current was 10/sup 6/.<>     

Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor thin-film transistor circuits from a high-temperature polycrystalline silicon process on steel foil substrates

We fabricated CMOS circuits from polycrystalline silicon films on steel foil substrates at process temperatures up to 950/spl deg/C. The substrates were 0.2-mm thick steel foil coated with 0.5-/spl mu/m thick SiO/sub 2/. We employed silicon crystallization times ranging from 6 h (600/spl deg/C) to 20 s (950/spl deg/C). Thin-film transistors (TFTs) were made in either self-aligned or nonself-aligned geometries. The gate dielectric was SiO/sub 2/ made by thermal oxidation or from deposited SiO/sub 2/. The field-effect mobilities reach 64 cm/sup 2//Vs for electrons and 22 cm/sup 2//Vs for holes. Complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) circuits were fabricated with self-aligned TFT geometries, and exhibit ring oscillator frequencies of 1 MHz. These results lay the groundwork for polycrystalline silicon circuitry on flexible substrates for large-area electronic backplanes.     

High-performance poly-Si TFTs on plastic substrates using a nano-structured separation layer approach

We demonstrate a manufacturable, large-area separation approach for producing high-performance polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors on flexible plastic substrates. The approach allows the use of high growth-temperature gate oxides and removes the need for hydrogenation. The process flow starts with the deposition of a nano-structured high surface-to-volume ratio film on a reuseable "mother" substrate. This film functions as a sacrificial release layer and is Si-based for process compatibility. After high-temperature TFT fabrication (up to 1100/spl deg/C) is carried to completion on the sacrificial film coated mother substrate, a thick plastic top layer film is applied, and the sacrificial layer is removed by chemical attack. By using this separation process, the temperature, smoothness, and mechanical limitations posed by plastic substrates are completely circumvented. Both excellent n-channel and p-channel TFTs on plastic have been produced. We report here on p-channel TFTs on separated plastic with a linear field effect (hole) mobility of 174 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, on/off current ratio of >10/sup 8/ at V/sub ds/=-0.1 V, off current of <10/sup -11/ A//spl mu/m-channel-width at V/sub ds/=-0.1 V, sub-V/sub t/ swing of /spl sim/200 mV/dec, and threshold voltage of -1.1 V.     

Polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors fabricated by defect reduction methods

Fabrication of n-channel polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) at a low temperature is reported. 13.56 MHz-oxygen plasma at a 100 W, 130 Pa at 250/spl deg/C for 5 min, and heat treatment at 260/spl deg/C with 1.3/spl times/10/sup 6/-Pa-H/sub 2/O vapor for 3 h were applied to reduction of the density of defect states in 25-nm-thick silicon films crystallized by irradiation of a 30 ns-pulsed XeCl excimer laser. Defect reduction was numerically analyzed. Those treatments resulted in a high carrier mobility of 830 cm/sup 2//Vs and a low threshold voltage of 1.5 V at a laser crystallization energy density of 285 mJ/cm/sup 2/.     

High-performance poly-Si TFTs fabricated by implant-to-silicide technique

High-performance poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) with fully silicided source/drain (FSD) and ultrashort shallow extension (SDE) fabricated by implant-to-silicide (ITS) technique are proposed for the first time. Using the FSD structure, the S/D parasitic resistance can be suppressed effectively. Using the ITS technique, an ultrashort and defect-free SDE can also be formed quickly at about 600/spl deg/C. Therefore, the FSD poly-Si TFTs exhibits better current-voltage characteristics than those of conventional TFTs. It should be noted that the on/off current ratios of FSD poly-Si TFT (W/L=1/4/spl mu/m) is over 3.3/spl times/10/sup 7/, and the field-effective mobility of that device is about 141.6 (cm/sup 2//Vs). Moreover, the superior short-channel characteristics of FSD poly-Si TFTs are also observed. It is therefore believed that the proposed FSD poly-Si TFT is a very promising TFT device.     

Stability of Amorphous-Silicon and Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistors Under DC and AC Stress

Bottom-gated n-channel thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated using hydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)/ nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) bilayers as channel materials, which are deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low temperatures. The stability of these devices is investigated under static and dynamic bias stress conditions. For comparison, the stability of a-Si:H and nc-Si:H single-layer TFTs is investigated under similar bias stress conditions. The overall results demonstrate that the a-Si:H/nc-Si:H bilayer TFTs are superior compared with their counterparts of a-Si:H and nc-Si:H TFTs regarding device performance and stability.     

Sub-500/spl deg/C solid-phase epitaxy of ultra-abrupt p/sup +/-silicon elevated contacts and diodes

A well-controlled low-temperature process, demonstrated from 350/spl deg/C to 500/spl deg/C, has been developed for epitaxially growing elevated contacts and near-ideal diode junctions of Al-doped Si in contact windows to the Si substrate. A physical-vapor-deposited (PVD) amorphous silicon layer is converted to monocrystalline silicon selectively in the contact windows by using a PVD aluminum layer as a transport medium. This is a solid-phase-epitaxy (SPE) process by which the grown Si is Al-doped to at least 10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/. Contact resistivity below 10/sup -7/ /spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ is achieved to both p/sup -/ and p/sup +/ bulk-silicon regions. The elevated contacts have also been employed to fabricate p/sup +/-n diodes and p/sup +/-n-p bipolar transistors, the electrical characterization of which indicates a practically defect-free epitaxy at the interface.     

High-performance hydrogenated amorphous-Si TFT for AMLCD and AMOLED applications

A novel technology for manufacturing high-performance hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistors (TFTs) is developed in this letter. In the bottom gate light-shield a-Si:H TFT structure, the side edge of a-Si:H island is capped with extra deposition of heavily phosphorous-doped a-Si layer. Such an ingenuity can effectively eliminate the leakage path between the parasitic contacts of source/drain metal and the sidewall of a-Si:H island edge. In addition, electrical performance of the novel a-Si:H TFT device exhibits superior effective carrier mobility as high as 1.05 cm/sup 2//Vs, due to the enormous improvement in parasitic resistance. The impressively high performance of the proposed a-Si:H TFT provides the potential to apply foractive matrix liquid crystal display and active matrix organic light-emitting diode technology.     

Implementation of fully self-aligned bottom-gate MOS transistor

This letter reports the implementation of a bottom-gate MOSFET, which possesses the following fully self-aligned structural features: 1) self-aligned source-drain to bottom-gate; 2) self-aligned thick source-drain and thin channel; and 3) self-aligned and mask-free lightly doped drain (LDD). The complete self-alignment is realized by combining a conventional ion implantation and a subsequent chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) step. The process is applied to poly-Si films crystallized from an a-Si film deposited by LPCVD using a metal-induced unilateral crystallization technique, and is grain-enhanced further in a high temperature annealing step. Deep submicron fully self-aligned bottom-gate pMOS transistors with channel length less than 0.5 /spl mu/m are fabricated. The measured performance parameters include threshold voltage of -0.43 V, subthreshold swing of 113 mV/dec, effective hole mobility of 147 cm/sup 2//V-s, off-current of 0.17 pA//spl mu/m, and on-off current ratio of 7.1/spl times/10/sup 8/.     

High-performance TFTs fabricated on plastic substrates

Poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) have recently been introduced to commercial glass flat-panel displays. This letter presents a manufacturable process for fabricating poly-Si TFTs directly on plastic substrates that exceed TFT parameter requirements for active-matrix displays. Plastic sheets are laminated onto carrier wafers, to allow use of automated tools for manufacturing. In order to maintain adhesion through the whole process, the wafer temperature is kept below 105/spl deg/C. Laser crystallization is used to grow poly-Si, and a quarter-wavelength stack layer is deposited to protect plastic from the laser processing. In order to achieve state-of-the-art poly-Si TFTs on plastic, the gate oxide is optimized. Using a higher temperature anneal after delamination minimizes leakage currents.     

SiGe HBTs on bonded SOI incorporating buried silicide layers

A technology is described for fabricating SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) on wafer-bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates that incorporate buried tungsten silicide layers for collector resistance reduction or buried groundplanes for crosstalk suppression. The physical structure of the devices is characterized using cross section transmission electron microscopy, and the electrical properties of the buried tungsten silicide layer are characterized using sheet resistance measurements as a function of bond temperature. Possible contamination issues associated with the buried tungsten silicide layer are investigated by measuring the collector/base reverse diode tics. A resistivity of 50 /spl mu//spl Omega/cm is obtained for the buried silicide layer for a bond anneal of 120 min at 1000/spl deg/C. Collector/base reverse diode tics show a voltage dependence of approximately V/sup 1/2/, indicating that the leakage current is due to Shockley-Read-Hall generation in the depletion region. Fitting of the current-voltage tics gives a generation lifetime of 90 ns, which is as expected for the collector doping of 7 /spl times/ 10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/. These results indicate that the buried tungsten silicide layer does not have a serious impact on junction leakage.     

High transmittance TFT-LCD panels using low-/spl kappa/ CVD films

Thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels of a high transmittance structure were fabricated by using a low-/spl kappa/ dielectric film as a passivation layer. The low-dielectric films were successfully deposited and patterned using a conventional plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and plasma-assisted etching techniques. The interface between the a-Si channel and the overlaying passivation was modified by appropriate plasma treatment prior to the low-/spl kappa/ deposition. TFTs having the a-Si:C:O:H passivation showed a transfer characteristics similar to that of conventional TFTs. The high transmittance panel showed brightness approximately 30% higher than that of a standard panel without degrading other display characteristics, such as crosstalk.     

Effect of SiNx Gate Dielectric Deposition Power and Temperature on a-Si:H TFT Stability

The stability of thin-film transistors (TFTs) of hydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H) against gate-bias stress is improved by raising the deposition power and temperature of the silicon nitride gate dielectric. We studied the effects of power density between 22 and 110 mW/cm² and temperature between 150degC and 300degC . The time needed to shift the threshold voltage by 2 V varies by a factor of 12 between low power and low temperature, and high power and high temperature. These results highlight the importance of fabricating a-Si:H TFTs on flexible plastic with the SiN_x gate dielectric deposited at the highest possible power and temperature.     

A high current gain 4H-SiC NPN power bipolar junction transistor

This work reports the development of high power 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) by using reduced implantation dose for p+ base contact region and annealing in nitric oxide of base-to-emitter junction passivation oxide for 2 hours at 1150/spl deg/C. The transistor blocks larger than 480 V and conducts 2.1 A (J/sub c/=239 A/cm/sup 2/) at V/sub ce/=3.4 V, corresponding to a specific on-resistance (R/sub sp on/) of 14 m/spl Omega/cm/sup 2/, based on a drift layer design of 12 /spl mu/m doped to 6/spl times/10/sup 15/cm/sup -3/. Current gain /spl beta//spl ges/35 has been achieved for collector current densities ranging from J/sub c/=40 A/cm/sup 2/ to 239 A/cm/sup 2/ (I/sub c/=2.1 A) with a peak current gain of 38 at J/sub c/=114 A/cm/sup 2/.