Influence of lateral crystallization on gate oxide in polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors

Abstract

The phase transformation in a film influences its surrounding. In order to remove influences on gate oxide caused by metal-induced unilateral crystallization, a gate was formed after a lateral crystallization. The thin-film transistor (TFT) by the novel fabrication method was shown to have a higher current drive and better immunity to early drain breakdown, compared to the conventional TFT performed by a lateral crystallization and a dopant activation process at a time. These improvements are attributed to being free from the interface state generation at the interface between the gate oxide and the active silicon.