Kink-free polycrystalline silicon double-gate elevated-channel thin-film transistors

The authors report the characterization and analysis of a novel double-gate elevated-channel thin-film transistor (ECTFT) fabricated using polycrystalline silicon. The transistor has a thin channel and thick source/drain regions with a double-gate control. Using this structure, the kink effect in the I-V characteristics of a conventional TFT is completely eliminated, and leakage current at zero gate bias is reduced by over 15 times. The elimination of the kink effect and the significant reduction in leakage current are obtained due to the reduction in lateral electric field at the channel/drain junction region. Two-dimensional (2-D) device simulations are used to study the electric field reduction mechanism in the structure. Experimental results on the forward conduction and gate transfer characteristics of the structure are also presented.