Future Prospects of Thin-Film Transistors and Their Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E:Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2024) | Viewed by 4922

Special Issue Editor

College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Interests: semiconductor device design and tape-out; semiconductor device modeling; reliability research; EDA platform integration; advanced display pixel circuit and drive circuit design and tape-out; weak signal driving circuit design and tape-out; realization of detection technology based on thin film transistor; FPGA hardware design and implementation; energy storage and conversion circuit design; low-temperature thin-film transistors; reliability; display technology; sensors
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As we know, thin-film transistors (TFTs) are essential components in various electronic devices, such as displays, sensors, and memory devices, due to their high performance, low power consumption, and flexibility.

We will launch a special issue "Future Prospects of Thin Film Transistors and Their Applications" to explore the latest advancements in TFTs and their potential applications. This issue would cover a wide range of topics related to TFTs, including TFT materials, TFT fabrication techniques, TFT device architectures, TFT characterization methods, TFT device reliability and TFT-based applications in various fields. The special issue will highlight the importance of collaboration among researchers from different disciplines, including materials science, electrical engineering, and physics, to overcome the technical barriers and bring TFTs to real-world applications.

Overall, the special issue "Future Prospects of Thin Film Transistors and Their Applications" will provide a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in the field of TFTs and highlights the exciting opportunities and challenges in this rapidly evolving field. The papers presented in this special issue are expected to stimulate further research and innovation in the field of TFTs and pave the way for future electronic applications. You are more than welcome to submit high quality review or original research papers.

Dr. Meng Zhang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Thin-film transistor (TFT)
  • TFT-based applications

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 5015 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Pixel Charging Efficiency by Optimizing Thin-Film Transistor Dimensions in Gate Driver Circuits for Active-Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays
by Xiaoxin Ma, Xin Zou, Ruoyang Yan, Fion Sze Yan Yeung, Wanlong Zhang and Xiaocong Yuan
Micromachines 2024, 15(2), 263; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15020263 - 10 Feb 2024
Viewed by 902
Abstract
Flat panel displays are electronic displays that are thin and lightweight, making them ideal for use in a wide range of applications, from televisions and computer monitors to mobile devices and digital signage. The Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) layer is responsible for controlling the [...] Read more.
Flat panel displays are electronic displays that are thin and lightweight, making them ideal for use in a wide range of applications, from televisions and computer monitors to mobile devices and digital signage. The Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) layer is responsible for controlling the amount of light that passes through each pixel and is located behind the liquid crystal layer, enabling precise image control and high-quality display. As one of the important parameters to evaluate the display performance, the faster response time provides more frames in a second, which benefits many high-end applications, such as applications for playing games and watching movies. To further improve the response time, the single-pixel charging efficiency is investigated in this paper by optimizing the TFT dimensions in gate driver circuits in active-matrix liquid crystal displays. The accurate circuit simulation model is developed to minimize the signal’s fall time (Tf) by optimizing the TFT width-to-length ratio. Our results show that using a driving TFT width of 6790 μm and a reset TFT width of 640 μm resulted in a minimum Tf of 2.6572 μs, corresponding to a maximum pixel charging ratio of 90.61275%. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of our optimization strategy in enhancing pixel charging efficiency and improving display performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Prospects of Thin-Film Transistors and Their Applications)
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9 pages, 1809 KiB  
Article
Performance Improvement of In-Ga-Zn Oxide Thin-Film Transistors by Excimer Laser Annealing
by Xiaohui Zhang, Yaping Li, Yanwei Li, Xinwang Xie and Longhai Yin
Micromachines 2024, 15(2), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15020225 - 31 Jan 2024
Viewed by 742
Abstract
We applied excimer laser annealing (ELA) on indium-zinc oxide (IZO) and IZO/indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) heterojunction thin-film transistors (TFTs) to improve their electrical characteristics. The IZO and IZO/IGZO heterojunction thin films were prepared by the physical vapor deposition method without any other annealing process. [...] Read more.
We applied excimer laser annealing (ELA) on indium-zinc oxide (IZO) and IZO/indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) heterojunction thin-film transistors (TFTs) to improve their electrical characteristics. The IZO and IZO/IGZO heterojunction thin films were prepared by the physical vapor deposition method without any other annealing process. The crystalline state and composition of the as-deposited film and the excimer-laser-annealed films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In order to further enhance the electrical performance of TFT, we constructed a dual-heterojunction TFT structure. The results showed that the field-effect mobility could be improved to 9.8 cm2/V·s. Surprisingly, the device also possessed good optical stability. The electron accumulation at the a-IZO/HfO, HfO/a-IGZO, and a-IGZO/gate insulator (GI) interfaces confirmed the a-IGZO-channel conduction. The dual-heterojunction TFT with IZO/HfO/a-IGZO-assisted ELA provides a guideline for overcoming the trade-off between high mobility (μ) and positive VTh control for stable enhancement mode operation with increased ID. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Prospects of Thin-Film Transistors and Their Applications)
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8 pages, 2602 KiB  
Communication
Effect of Channel Shape on Performance of Printed Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide Thin-Film Transistors
by Xingzhen Yan, Bo Li, Yiqiang Zhang, Yanjie Wang, Chao Wang, Yaodan Chi and Xiaotian Yang
Micromachines 2023, 14(11), 2121; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14112121 - 18 Nov 2023
Viewed by 872
Abstract
Printing technology will improve the complexity and material waste of traditional deposition and lithography processes in device fabrication. In particular, the printing process can effectively control the functional layer stacking and channel shape in thin-film transistor (TFT) devices. We prepared the patterning indium [...] Read more.
Printing technology will improve the complexity and material waste of traditional deposition and lithography processes in device fabrication. In particular, the printing process can effectively control the functional layer stacking and channel shape in thin-film transistor (TFT) devices. We prepared the patterning indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) semiconductor layer with Ga, In, and Zn molar ratios of 1:2:7 on Si/SiO2 substrates. And the patterning source and drain electrodes were printed on the surface of semiconductor layers to construct a TFT device with the top contact and bottom gate structures. To overcome the problem of uniform distribution of applied voltages between electrode centers and edges, we investigated whether the circular arc channel could improve the carrier regulation ability under the field effect in printed TFTs compared with a traditional structure of rectangular symmetry and a rectangular groove channel. The drain current value of the IGZO TFT with a circular arc channel pattern was significantly enhanced compared to that of a TFT with rectangular symmetric source/drain electrodes under the corresponding drain–source voltage and gate voltage. The field effect properties of the device were obviously improved by introducing the arc-shaped channel structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Prospects of Thin-Film Transistors and Their Applications)
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12 pages, 3529 KiB  
Article
A Pixel Circuit for Compensating Electrical Characteristics Variation and OLED Degradation
by Ning Wei, Hongzhen Chu, Bo Yu, Huicheng Zhao, Yuehua Li, Xinlin Wang and Hongyu He
Micromachines 2023, 14(4), 857; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040857 - 15 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1657
Abstract
In recent years, the active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays have been greatly required. A voltage compensation pixel circuit based on an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin-film transistor is presented for AMOLED displays. The circuit is composed of five transistors–two capacitors (5 [...] Read more.
In recent years, the active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays have been greatly required. A voltage compensation pixel circuit based on an amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin-film transistor is presented for AMOLED displays. The circuit is composed of five transistors–two capacitors (5T2C) in combination with an OLED. In the circuit, the threshold voltages of both the transistor and the OLED are extracted simultaneously in the threshold voltage extraction stage, and the mobility-related discharge voltage is generated in the data input stage. The circuit not only can compensate the electrical characteristics variation, i.e., the threshold voltage variation and mobility variation, but also can compensate the OLED degradation. Furthermore, the circuit can prevent the OLED flicker, and can achieve the wide data voltage range. The circuit simulation results show that the OLED current error rates (CERs) are lower than 3.89% when the transistor’s threshold voltage variation is ±0.5V, lower than 3.49% when the mobility variation is ±30%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Prospects of Thin-Film Transistors and Their Applications)
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