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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/M04549/01
Title: LOW TEMPERATURE ECR DEPOSITED SILICON NITRIDE FOR THIN FILM TRANSISTORS ON PLASTIC
Principal Investigator: Milne, Professor WI
Other Investigators:
Robertson, Professor J
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Philips
Department: Engineering
Organisation: University of Cambridge
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 April 1998 Ends: 31 March 2000 Value (£): 56,964
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
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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Organisation Website: http://www.cam.ac.uk