Origin of Spontaneous Degradation of Flexible Poly-Si TFTs After Dynamic Bending

Abstract

The origin of an abnormal spontaneous degradation of low-temperature polycrystalline Si (LTPS) thin-film transistors (TFTs) is investigated. After being subjected to dynamic bending stress, LTPS TFTs will continuously degrade when stored in a normal condition. Studies have shown that the interaction between the sensitive area of the TFTs and the O2 in ambient environment causes the spontaneous degradation. Defects at the gate oxide/channel interface generated by mechanical stress continuously capturing electrons with the help of oxygen is regarded as the origin of spontaneous degradation. In contrast, moisture in air can effectively suppress spontaneous degradation by reacting with the above defects to form relatively stable atom groups.