Enhanced performance and reliability for solid phase crystallized poly-Si TFTs with Argon ion implantation

Abstract

Performance and reliability improvement for polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) with Argon ion implantation are proposed for the first time. By adopting this novel surface-nucleation solid-phase-crystallization scheme, not only the grain size of poly-Si can be increased but also the intragranular defects can be suppressed effectively. Therefore, a high quality of poly-Si film in channel with better crystallinity is formed. Argon-implanted TFTs have been successfully fabricated and the experimental results demonstrate a superior field-effect mobility of 46. 06 cm-2/Vs, a fewer grain boundary trap density of 3.44 × 10 12 cm-2 than those of conventional TFTs. The novel proposed structure is a very promising candidate for the future high-performance large-area device applications.