Browsing by Author "Lin, Yu-Ho"

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Effect of SiO2 Buffer Layer Thickness on Performance and Reliability of Flexible Polycrystalline Silicon TFTs Fabricated on Polyimide
(2016-12-01)
Chen, Bo-Wei
;
Chang, Ting-Chang
;
Hung, Yu-Ju
;
Huang, Shin-Ping
;
Chen, Hua-Mao
This letter investigates flexible polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor performance variation due to different buffer layer thicknesses. In flexible electronics, thermal expansion stress during device fabrication is inevitable. A thicker SiO2 buffer demonstrates better endurance to thermal expansion stress from the polyimide substrate during device annealing. However, if the SiO2 buffer thickness is above a critical point, its weak heat dissipation capability causes the optimal ELA crystallization condition to shift. A thermal expansion stress simulation and TEM photos were utilized to verify performance variation. Furthermore, a similar trend was observed in electrical characteristics after negative bias temperature instability.
Surface Engineering of Polycrystalline Silicon for Long-Term Mechanical Stress Endurance Enhancement in Flexible Low Temperature Poly-Si Thin-Film Transistors
(2017-04-05)
Chen, Bo-Wei
;
Chang, Ting-Chang
;
Chang, Kuan-Chang
;
Hung, Yu-Ju
;
Huang, Shin-Pin
The surface morphology in polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) film is an issue regardless of whether conventional excimer laser annealing (ELA) or the newer metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC) process is used. This paper investigates the stress distribution while undergoing longterm mechanical stress and the influence of stress on electrical characteristics. Our simulated results show that the nonuniform stress in the gate insulator is more pronounced near the polysilicon/gate insulator edge and at the two sides of the polysilicon protrusion. This stress results in defects in the gate insulator and leads to a nonuniform degradation phenomenon, which affects both the performance and the reliability in thin-film transistors (TFTs). The degree of degradation is similar regardless of bending axis (channel-length axis, channel-width axis) or bending type (compression, tension), which means that the degradation is dominated by the protrusion effects. Furthermore, by utilizing long-term electrical bias stresses after undergoing long-tern bending stress, it is apparent that the carrier injection is severe in the subchannel region, which confirms that the influence of protrusions is crucial. To eliminate the influence of surface morphology in poly-Si, three kinds of laser energy density were used during crystallization to control the protrusion height. The device with the lowest protrusions demonstrates the smallest degradation after undergoing long-term bending.