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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/D016231/1
Title: Developing a collaboration with FZ Rossendorf on flash lamp annealing of amorphous silicon-on-glass substrates
Principal Investigator: McMahon, Professor RA
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Mr MP Smith
Project Partners:
Heraeus Holdings GmbH Research Centre Rossendorf e.V.
Department: Engineering
Organisation: University of Cambridge
Scheme: Overseas Travel Grants Pre-FEC
Starts: 17 July 2005 Ends: 16 October 2006 Value (£): 3,120
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Recent years have seen a phenomenal growth in the use of flat panel displays. The success of flat panel displays depends on making large numbers of transistors in a thin layer of silicon on the inside of the glass panel. These transistors control the individual picture cells which go to make up the whole display.Creating the thin layer of silicon in which the transistors are made is a major challenge. After the silicon has been deposited, the layer must be crystallized to increase the size of the grains if we are to make transistors with good enough performance. The growth in grain size can be achieved using a laser but the process is slow, and expensive, as the laser spot is small and has to be scanned over the whole area.Researchers at the German Research Institute FZ Rossendorf have developed a means of carrying out the grain growth much faster and more cheaply. Their technique uses an intense pulse of light from flash lamps instead of a laser. Our proposal is to travel to Germany to explore how the flash lamp equipment can be exploited. We need to confirm some initial experiments, to assess whether any changes are needed in the equipment and to plan a project to exploit the technology.
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Organisation Website: http://www.cam.ac.uk