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Fabrication and Characterization of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Bipolar Thin Film Transistor (B-TFT)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Yue Kuo ,
Yu Lei  and
Helinda Nominanda
Yue Kuo
Affiliation:
Thin Film Nano & Microelectronics Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, U.S.A.
Yu Lei
Affiliation:
Thin Film Nano & Microelectronics Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, U.S.A.
Helinda Nominanda
Affiliation:
Thin Film Nano & Microelectronics Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, U.S.A.
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Abstract

The conventional a-Si:H thin film transistor (TFT) is a field effect transistor (FET), which has disadvantages of a low operation speed and a small current driving capability. To achieve a higher speed and larger current driving capability, a potential solution is to fabricate the a-Si:H-based bipolar thin film transistor (B-TFT). In this study, a-Si:H p-i-n junctions were prepared and studied in order to determine the proper layer thickness for good junction behaviors. B-TFTs composed of a stacked structure of n+/i/p/i/n+ were then fabricated. The complete B-TFT was made using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to deposit all doped and undoped a-Si:H layers and SiNx dielectrics at 250°C. Reactive ion etching (RIE) and wet etching methods were used to define base and emitter regions and contacts. The I-V characteristics of the complete B-TFT were investigated. The common-emitter current gain is 3∼6, which is larger than the literature report of 2∼3. In addition, a collector current larger than the literature value was obtained. A significant current noise was observed, which may be contributed to the high series resistance of the base layer and defective junction interfaces. In this paper, process and structure influences on the a-Si:H junction and B-TFT performances are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 808: Symposium A – Amorphous and Nanocrystaline Silicon Science and Technology-2004 , 2004 , A4.7
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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