Flexible TFT Circuit Analyzer Considering Process Variation, Aging, and Bending Effects

Abstract

This paper presents a SPICE-based simulator, FlexiAnalyzer, for flexible thin-film transistor (TFT) circuits. This simulator performs four types of analysis: yield analysis, aging analysis, performance analysis, and weak spot analysis. This simulator considers three important effects: 1) threshold voltage variation of manufacturing process; 2) threshold voltage shift due to aging effect; and 3) mobility change due to bending effect. Six different OLED pixel drivers designed in 8-m amorphous silicon TFT technology were used in simulation results. The proposed tool provides a good solution for designers to evaluate the performance and yield of flexible TFT circuits.Index Terms-Flexible TFT circuits, spice, circuit analyzer, bending effect, aging effect.

Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics

“…One step in this direction was done by Ma et al, 217 who included strain-induced l FE variations into a HSpice-based flexible circuit analyzer. Furthermore, purely mechanical simulations of flexible n-type vacuum-processed metal oxide semiconductor TFTs have also been reported.…”

“…To date, only Ma et al have shown a HSpice-based simulator, which is able to include the threshold voltage variations induced by mechanical strain, as well as by process modifications and aging. 217 b. Digital circuits.…”

Incremental Latin hypercube sampling for lifetime stochastic behavioral modeling of analog circuits

“…In particular, flexible electronics are usually associated with large variations on V th and µ. According to previous work in [22], the relative standard deviation (std) of V th and µ are modeled as ±20% and ±15% respectively, while the relative std of device physical sizes (W and L) are modeled as ±3%. The aging effect is calculated according to the model proposed in [20].…”

A Flexible TFT Circuit Yield Optimizer Considering Process Variation, Aging, and Bending Effects

“…YieldAnalyzer is a SPICE-based simulator that performs many Monte Carlo trials considering aging, bending and process variation [21], [22]. The distribution of process variation in threshold voltage can be modeled as inter-die and intra-die variations.…”