Physical polysilicon thin-film transistor modelling for device characterisation and circuit design

Polysilicon is by far the most attractive technology for flat panel displays with regard to reliability, compactness and low cost. However development of the technology has been hampered by the lack of reliable device and circuit design tools. The goal of providing polysilicon technologists and circuit designers the same array of tools as are currently available to their sub-micron crystalline counterparts can only be achieved through the combination of extensive laboratory experiments with physical two dimensional simulations. This work enables the formulation of theoretical models for polysilicon TFT conduction mechanisms and provides insights into the device's operation in both static and dynamic modes. This paper deals with three areas of particular importance to this goal, which represent a progression from experimental device characterisation to the implementation of a state-of-the-art circuit simulation package and the development of sophisticated theoretical models for two-dimensional simulation.