High performance low temperature polycrystalline Si thin-film transistors fabricated by silicide seed-induced lateral crystallization

• Published in: Electronic materials letters Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 251 - 258
• Main Authors: Byun, Chang Woo, Son, Se Wan, Lee, Yong Woo, Joo, Seung Ki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2012; 대한금속·재료학회
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Materials Science; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Optical and Electronic Materials; 전자/정보통신공학; thin film transistor; silicide seed-induced crystallization (SIC); metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC); low temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS); silicide seed-induced lateral crystallization (SILC)
• ISSN: 1738-8090; 2093-6788
• DOI: 10.1007/s13391-012-2079-x

A novel and simple crystallization method for high performance polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) using Ni silicide seed-induced lateral crystallization (SILC) was proposed in this study, and it includes no additional deposition and/or etching processes that are not found in the fabrication of conventional metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC) TFTs. The poly-Si thin films crystallized by SILC were characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Micro-Raman spectroscopy. The electrical properties were obtained from I D - V G transfer curves and the interface trap density was determined by Levinson plot analysis. The results show that SILC poly-Si films have lower Ni contamination, better crystallinity, and higher crystalline fraction than MILC poly-Si films. The p-channel SILC poly-Si TFTs exhibited a mobility of 66 cm 2 /V·s, a minimum leakage current of 3.4 × 10 −11 A at V D = −5 V, a subthreshold slope of 0.85 V/dec, and a maximum on/off ratio of 5.0 × 10 6 , all of which resulted in a high-performance device which surpassed conventional MILC poly-Si TFTs.