| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M04549/01 |
| Title: |
LOW TEMPERATURE ECR DEPOSITED SILICON NITRIDE FOR THIN FILM TRANSISTORS ON PLASTIC |
| Principal Investigator: |
Milne, Professor WI |
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| Department: |
Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Cambridge |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 April 1998 |
Ends: |
31 March 2000 |
Value (£): |
56,964
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Amorphous silicon thin film transistor (TFT) controlled active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) are the dominant flat panel display technology. There is a strong desire to lower process temperatures from the present 250-300C to below 150C to allow the use of plastic substrates. The low temperature limit is presently set by the quality of the amorphous silicon nitride used as the gate insulator in the TFT. Low temperature RF plasma deposited nitride presently suffers from excessive gate leakage currents and large charge trapping, causing TFT instability due to threshold voltage shifts. Both these problems are traceable to the high hydrogen content of the nitride. We propose to deposit low temperature a-Si3N4:H using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) reactor. This provides nitride with a much lower hydrogen content because deposition occurs under a controlled flux of low energy ions which dehydrogenates the film, without creating defects. The processing conditions will be optimised for low temperature deposition, and the results communicated to industrial collaborators such as Philips. The results will also be used to further our understanding growth processes of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and its alloys.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.cam.ac.uk |