Poly-Silicon TFT's on Metal Foil Substrates for Flexible Displays

In an attempt to fabricate all inclusive display systems we are presenting a study on several elements that would be used as building blocks for all-on-board integrated applications on stainless steel foils. These systems would include in the same substrate all or many of the components needed to drive a flat panel OLED display. We are reporting results on both digital and analog circuits on stainless steel foils. Shift registers running at speeds greater than 1.0MHz are shown as well as oscillators operating at over 40MHz. Pixel circuits for driving organic light emitting diodes are presented. The device technology of choice is that based on poly-silicon TFT technology as it has the potential of producing circuits with good performance and considerable cost savings over the established processes on quartz or glass substrates (amorphous Silicon a-Si:H or silicon on Insulator SOI).