Self-aligned amorphous-silicon TFTs on clear plastic substrates

I. Chun Cheng; Alex Z. Kattamis; Ke Long; James C. Sturm; Sigurd Wagner

doi:10.1109/LED.2006.870247

Self-aligned amorphous-silicon TFTs on clear plastic substrates

I. Chun Cheng, Alex Z. Kattamis, Ke Long, James C. Sturm, Sigurd Wagner

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

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 ∼3 V, subthreshold slope of ∼0.5 V/dec, linear mobility of ∼1cm²V^-1 S^-1, saturation mobility of ∼0.8 cm²V^-1 S^-1 and on/off current ratio of >10⁶. These results show that self-alignment by backside exposure provides a solution to the fundamental challenge of making electronics on plastics: overlay misalignment.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	166-168
Number of pages	3
Journal	IEEE Electron Device Letters
Volume	27
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/LED.2006.870247
State	Published - Mar 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

Amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)
Plastic substrates
Self-aligned process
Thin-film transistors (TFTs)

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10.1109/LED.2006.870247

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title = "Self-aligned amorphous-silicon TFTs on clear plastic substrates",

abstract = "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 ∼3 V, subthreshold slope of ∼0.5 V/dec, linear mobility of ∼1cm2V-1 S-1, saturation mobility of ∼0.8 cm2V-1 S-1 and on/off current ratio of >106. These results show that self-alignment by backside exposure provides a solution to the fundamental challenge of making electronics on plastics: overlay misalignment.",

keywords = "Amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H), Plastic substrates, Self-aligned process, Thin-film transistors (TFTs)",

author = "Cheng, {I. Chun} and Kattamis, {Alex Z.} and Ke Long and Sturm, {James C.} and Sigurd Wagner",

note = "Funding Information: Manuscript received December 16, 2005. This work was supported by the DuPont Company and the New Jersey Commission for Science and Technology. The review of this letter was arranged by Editor J. Sin. The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA (e-mail: iccheng@princeton.edu). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LED.2006.870247 Fig. 1. Optical transmission in the violet and near-UV region of (a) bare 75-m-thick clear plastic foil, and of clear plastic coated only with (b) 10-nm, (c) 30-nm, (d) 50-nm, and (e) 100-nm-thick i a-Si:H layers. The transmission values at = 405-nm are (a) 30%, (b) 7.7%, (c) 3.9%, (d) 1.6%, and (e) 0.2%, respectively.",

year = "2006",

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doi = "10.1109/LED.2006.870247",

language = "English (US)",

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pages = "166--168",

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T1 - Self-aligned amorphous-silicon TFTs on clear plastic substrates

AU - Cheng, I. Chun

AU - Kattamis, Alex Z.

AU - Long, Ke

AU - Sturm, James C.

AU - Wagner, Sigurd

N1 - Funding Information: Manuscript received December 16, 2005. This work was supported by the DuPont Company and the New Jersey Commission for Science and Technology. The review of this letter was arranged by Editor J. Sin. The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA (e-mail: iccheng@princeton.edu). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LED.2006.870247 Fig. 1. Optical transmission in the violet and near-UV region of (a) bare 75-m-thick clear plastic foil, and of clear plastic coated only with (b) 10-nm, (c) 30-nm, (d) 50-nm, and (e) 100-nm-thick i a-Si:H layers. The transmission values at = 405-nm are (a) 30%, (b) 7.7%, (c) 3.9%, (d) 1.6%, and (e) 0.2%, respectively.

PY - 2006/3

Y1 - 2006/3

N2 - 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 ∼3 V, subthreshold slope of ∼0.5 V/dec, linear mobility of ∼1cm2V-1 S-1, saturation mobility of ∼0.8 cm2V-1 S-1 and on/off current ratio of >106. These results show that self-alignment by backside exposure provides a solution to the fundamental challenge of making electronics on plastics: overlay misalignment.

AB - 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 ∼3 V, subthreshold slope of ∼0.5 V/dec, linear mobility of ∼1cm2V-1 S-1, saturation mobility of ∼0.8 cm2V-1 S-1 and on/off current ratio of >106. These results show that self-alignment by backside exposure provides a solution to the fundamental challenge of making electronics on plastics: overlay misalignment.

KW - Amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)

KW - Plastic substrates

KW - Self-aligned process

KW - Thin-film transistors (TFTs)

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JO - IEEE Electron Device Letters

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Self-aligned amorphous-silicon TFTs on clear plastic substrates

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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