36.1: Invited Paper: Innovations in Thin Film Electronics for the New Generation of Displays

Abstract

Improvements in semiconductor materials carried Moore's Law into the 1990s, where device geometries and limits in materials performance drove the need for fundamental innovation at the materials and structural levels of MOSFETs. The display industry has reached a similar point the need for fundamental innovation at the materials and structural levels of thin film transistors. Successful transition to a higher plateau of thin film device technology enables a new inflection point in the use of displays just as the FinFET was the foundation for an inflection point in the use of microprocessors.This paper provides an overview of two thin film technology innovations offering promise as the next two plateaus in the evolution of thin film integrated circuit manufacturing: achieving bulk accumulation in single gate metal oxide semiconductor thin film transistors, and semiconductor less quantum tunneling. Linked through a single core materials set based on strong yet flexible amorphous metals, these two innovations create a roadmap simplifying the manufacturing of high image quality, low power consumption displays on glass and plastic.