Silicon and Metal Oxide Thin Film Transistors: Materials, Process Technology, Device Physics, and Reliability
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films and Interfaces".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2020) | Viewed by 22164
Special Issue Editor
Interests: oxide semiconductors; thin-film transistor (TFT); flexible devices; flat-panel displays
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The flat panel display (FPD) market is expected to further expand at a higher growth rate in upcoming years, due to the demand for high-resolution, compact, lightweight, and flexible displays. The thin film transistor (TFT) is a key component for controlling picture quality of FPDs.
TFT is a type of field-effect-transistor (FET), which is commonly used for large-area electronics. These transistors are produced by depositing different types of thin films, such as active semiconductors, dielectrics and metals, over a non-conducting substrate. The significant advantage of the TFT is a low fabrication temperature. The main application of TFTs is in active-matrix liquid-crystal displays (AM-LCDs) or organic light emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays, in which each pixel is controlled by one or several TFTs. In addition to AM-LCDs and OLED displays, TFTs are also used in X-ray imaging devices, various sensors (e.g., fingerprint, bio-medical, pH, temperature sensors), and radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips.
The present interest in TFT materials and their applications can be traced back to the mid-1970s with the invention of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). Because the low mobility of a-Si:H makes it a weak candidate for high-resolution displays, high-mobility TFTs are an attractive alternative. Poly-Si is one such candidate for high-mobility TFTs, consisting of small quasi single crystals separated by grain boundaries. Thus, for poly-Si TFTs, various crystallization techniques have been proposed to enlarge and control their grain size and crystalline orientation. In recent years, metal oxide TFTs have attracted considerable attention for use in next-generation high-definition and large-area FPDs due to their mobility, large-area uniformity, and compatibility with low-temperature processes. However, the reliability, especially for light-instability, need to be addressed for practical applications. Very recently, hetero-integration of Si and metal oxide becomes more integrated into LSI technology. For a successful hetero-integration process, device structure and process technology have to be explored more deeply.
Nevertheless, the future of TFT technology is dependent on the success of high-resolution flexible displays with integrated circuits and sensors. For that reason, it was felt that a special issue covering up-to-date research efforts would be valuable for those exploring TFT technologies.
It is my honor and pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome.
Prof. Mamoru Furuta
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Poly-Si
- Metal oxide
- Device Physics
- Reliability
- Hetero integration
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