High-Performance Nanowire TFTs With Metal-Induced Lateral Crystallized Poly-Si Channels

• Published in: IEEE electron device letters Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 474 - 476
• Main Authors: Chang, Chia-Wen, Chen, Szu-Fen, Chang, Che-Lun, Deng, Chih-Kang, Huang, Jiun-Jia, Lei, Tan-Fu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.05.2008; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Active matrix technology; Applied sciences; Channels; Controllability; Crystallization; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fabrication; Grain boundaries; Liquid crystal devices; Liquid crystals; Metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC); Nanocomposites; Nanomaterials; Nanostructure; Nanowires; nanowires (NWs); Semiconductor devices; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Silicon; Spacers; Statistical process control; Thin film transistors; thin-film transistors (TFTs); Threshold voltage; Transistors; triple-gate structure; Voltage threshold; High performance; nanowires (NWs); Spacer; Polycrystal; Controllability; Thin film transistor; Nanowires; triple-gate structure; Electrical characteristic; Metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC); thin-film transistors (TFTs)
• ISSN: 0741-3106; 1558-0563
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2008.920977

High-performance poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) with 50-nm nanowire (NW) channels fabricated by integrating a simple spacer formation scheme and metal-induced-lateral-crystallization (MILC) technique are proposed. By using the sidewall spacer formation scheme, the NW channels with nanometer-scale feature sizes can be easily fabricated, exhibiting superior channel controllability through the triple-gate structure. In employing the MILC technique, the grain crystallinity of NW channels is significantly superior to that formed by the solid-phase-crystallization (SPC) technique. Therefore, the MILC NW TFT exhibits greatly improved electrical performances, including lower threshold voltage, steeper subthreshold swing, and higher field-effect mobility, as compared to those of the SPC NW TFT. Moreover, the superior threshold-voltage rolloff characteristics of MILC NW TFT are also demonstrated.