Surface effect as a limitation on the performance of polycrystalline Si thin‐film transistors

TLDR: In this paper, the average grain size and the fiber texture of a polycrystalline Si film could affect the performance of metaloxide-semiconductor thin-film transistors fabricated in the film.

Abstract: In a previous article [J. Appl. Phys. 62, 1503 (1987)], we demonstrated how the average grain size and the {110} fiber texture of a polycrystalline Si film could affect the performance of metal‐oxide‐semiconductor thin‐film transistors fabricated in the film. We showed that, for grain sizes of the order of 1–2 μm, a strong {110} texture was more effective than a larger average grain size in improving the threshold voltages and field‐effect carrier mobilities of both the n‐ and p‐channel transistors fabricated. In this article, we propose an interpretation of these results, and offer supporting evidences, to relate the crystallographic texture of a polycrystalline Si film to thin‐film transistor performance. We show that a {110}‐oriented surface exhibits less surface effect than a randomly oriented surface on average and, consequently, it is more desirable for thin‐film transistor applications.