Innovations in thin‐film electronics for the new generation of displays

Abstract

Today's display industry faces transistor‐level challenges similar to those of complementary metal‐oxide semiconductor (CMOS) metal‐oxide semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MOSFETs) in the mid‐1990s. Learnings from MOSFETs inform the display industry's response to the limitations of silicon‐based thin‐film transistors (TFTs). Improvements sustaining Moore's Law drove the need to rethink MOSFET materials and structures. The display industry needs fundamental innovation at the device level. New thin‐film devices enable an inflection point in the use of displays, just as fin field‐effect transistor (FinFET) defined the inflection point in CMOS in the 2000s. This paper outlines two innovations in thin‐film device technology that offers improvement in image quality and power consumption of flat panel displays: amorphous metal gate TFTs (AMeTFTs) and amorphous metal nonlinear resistors (AMNRs). Linked through a single core material set based on mass‐producible, thin‐film amorphous metals, these two innovations create near‐ and long‐term roadmaps simplifying the production of high‐image quality, low‐power consumption displays on glass (now) and plastic (future). In particular, the field‐effect mobility of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) AMeTFTs (55–72 cm2/Vs) exceeds that of IGZO TFTs developed by existing display manufacturers without the need for atomic layer deposition or vertical stacking of heterostructure semiconductor films, making AMeTFTs a natural choice for the new G8.5–G8.7 fabs targeting IGZO backplanes.