AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Thin Film Tuesday Sessions
       Session TF-TuM

Paper TF-TuM2
Gate Dielectric Development for Flexible Electronics

Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 8:20 am, Room 2022

Session: Materials for Flexible Substrates, Displays, and Optoelectronics
Presenter: P.C. Joshi, SHARP Labs of America, Inc.
Authors: P.C. Joshi, SHARP Labs of America, Inc.
A.T. Voutsas, SHARP Labs of America, Inc.
J.W. Hartzell, SHARP Labs of America, Inc.
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TFTs integrated on flexible substrates are becoming increasingly attractive for low cost displays, sensors, and rf communication applications. The successful development of high performance flexible devices will be dictated by the enhancement in the thermal stability of the substrates and the low temperature (< 300 °C) processing of the high quality gate dielectric. The PECVD technique has successfully met the demands of the gate dielectric for display devices at processing temperatures lower than 600 °C. However, a further reduction in the processing temperatures below 300 °C is essential to realize low cost, highly functional devices on flexible substrates. The low temperatures processing of gate dielectric films necessitates the development of processes and techniques with plasma controlled reaction kinetics dominating the thin film growth rather then the thermal state of the substrate. At the same time, the gate dielectric reliability need to be maintained or enhanced. In the present work, we report on the low temperature processing of high quality gate dielectric films by high-density PECVD technique at process temperatures lower than 300 °C. The bulk and interfacial electrical quality and reliability of the MOS capacitors as a function of process temperature are discussed in this report. A comparison with the high temperature gate oxide films deposited by PECVD technique employing CCP source has been made to establish the film quality and reliability. The films processed at low temperatures in the range of 150-300 °C showed high electrical performance and reliability as evaluated in terms of the leakage current, flat band voltage, mid-gap interface trap concentration, and BTS characteristics. The observed results are promising and suggest the suitability of HDP technique for novel device development on low temperature flexible substrates.