Effects of Stress Mismatch on the Electrical Characteristics of Amorphous Silicon TFTs for Active-Matrix LCDs

The effect of stress match between silicon nitride ($SiN_2$) and hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers on the electrical characteristics of thin-film transistors (TFTs) has been investigated. The result shows that modifying the deposition conditions of a Si:H and $SiN_2$ thin films can reduce the stress mismatch at a-Si:H/SiNx interface. Moreover, for best a-Si:H TFT characteristics, the internal stress of gate $SiN_2$ layer with slightly nitrogen-rich should be matched with that of a-Si:H channel layer. The ON current, field-effect mobility, and stability of TFTs can be enhanced by controlling the stress match between a-Si:H and gate insulator. The improvement of these characteristics appears to be due to both the decrease of the interface state density between the a-Si:H and SiNx layer, and the good dielectric quality of the bottom nitride layer.