ABSTRACT
The plastic
substrates are thinner, lighter, shatterproof, flexible, rollable and foldable,
making Silicon-on-Plastic an enabling technology for new applications/products.
This paper studies the development of Silicon on Plastic technology. Advances
in poly-silicon technology have expanded TFT (THIN FILM TRANSISTORS) technology
to high-speed electronics applications such as Smart Cards, RFID tags, portable
imaging devices, photo-voltaic devices and solid-state lighting and other
integrated circuit functions.
The challenge of
Silicon-on-Plastic technology is to overcome the fact that plastic melts at the
temperature required to build transistors in conventional TFT processes.
Technological innovations have been made to accommodate silicon processing at
low temperatures. This paper describes
an innovative ultra-low temperature poly-silicon TFT process on plastic
substrates , Key technologies includes near room-temperature silicon and oxide
deposition steps, laser crystallization and dopant activation. Manufacturing
issues related to plastic material compatibility in a TFT process are reviewed.
Lamination and de-lamination of plastic wafers to glass carrier wafers for
manufacturability is discussed. An active matrix TFT backplane will be
fabricated with an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display to demonstrate
this technology.
INTRODUCTION
Currently, amorphous
silicon thin film transistors (TFT’s) on glass are predominantly used in the
flat panel display industry for notebook computers, mobile phones, PDA’s (Personal
Digital Assistant), and other handheld devices. Today, flat panels made by
amorphous TFT technology are replacing desktop computer CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
monitors at an ever-increasing rate. Amorphous TFT technology applications are
limited due to its inherently low electron mobility. Applications that require
integration of display drivers such as hand-held camcorder and cell phone
displays are using poly-silicon based TFT’s for cost and space savings. This
eliminates the need for costly assembly of conventional silicon chips onto the
amorphous TFT display panels. Advances in poly-silicon technology have expanded
TFT technology to high-speed electronics applications such as Smart Cards, RFID
tags and other integrated circuit functions.
Recently developed ultra low-temperature polysilicon TFT
technology can be applaid on both glass and plastic substrates. The plastic
substrates are thinner, lighter, shatterproof, flexible, rollable and foldable,
making silicon-on-plastic an enabling technology for new applications/products.
Some of the possibilities are roll-up/down displays, lightweight, thin
wall-mounted TVs, electronic newspapers, and wearable display/computing
devices. Moreover, plastic substrates offer the potential of roll-to-roll (R2R)
manufacturing which can reduce manufacturing cost substantially compared to
conventional plate-to-plate (P2P) methods. Other possibilities include smart
cards, RFID tags, and portable imaging devices, photo-voltaic devices and
solid-state lighting.
The challenge of
silicon-on-plastic technology is to overcome the fact that plastic melts at the
temperature required to build transistors in conventional TFT processes. The
ultra low-temperature process is compatible with plastic substrates and offers
good TFT performance. Technological innovations have been made to accommodate
silicon processing at low temperatures.
0 comments: