The Electrical Properties of Unidirectional Metal-Induced Lateral Crystallized Polycrystalline-Silicon Thin-Film Transistors

It has been known that adjacent Pd enhances the crystallization rate in Ni metal-induced lateral crystallization (Ni-MILC) and this knowledge has been used to fabricate the unidirectional MILC thin-film transistors (TFTs), which eliminate the boundary formed at the center of TFT channel in a normal MILC TFTs. It is discovered that the MILC/MILC boundary (MMB) is responsible for the high leakage current and low fieldeffect mobility. The electrical properties of unidirectional MILC TFTs $( \hbox{Width/Length} = \hbox{10}/\hbox{10}\ \mu\hbox{m})$ improved considerably comparing to those of MILC TFTs containing the MMB. The leakage current and field-effect mobility, which have been regarded as obstacles for industrialization of the MILC process, measure to be $\hbox{2.1} \times \hbox{10}^{-11}\ \hbox{A}$ and 83 $\hbox{cm}^{2}/\hbox{V}\cdot \hbox{s}$, respectively.