Using Amorphous Silicon Gap-Type Thin Film Transistor as Ambient Light Sensors and Proximity Sensors for Smartphones

In the smartphone industry, there is a clear trend of developing high screen-to-body ratio display. In order to achieve this demand, we proposed the idea of integrating photo sensing devices into display panels. The photosensitive characteristic of amorphous silicon (a-Si) gap-type thin-film transistors is reviewed and the applicability is examined from the viewpoints of ambient light sensor and proximity sensor. The advantages and feasibility of this idea are fully investigated.