Offset Electrode TFT Structure
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorYan Ye
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention generally relates to an offset electrode TFT and a method of its manufacture. The offset electrode TFT is a TFT in which one electrode, either the source or the drain, surrounds the other electrode. The gate electrode continues to be below both the source and the drain electrodes. By redesigning the TFT, less voltage is necessary to transfer the voltage from the source to the drain electrode as compared to traditional bottom gate TFTs or top gate TFTs. The offset electrode TFT structure is applicable not only to silicon based TFTs, but also to transparent TFTs that include metal oxides such as zinc oxide or IGZO and metal oxynitrides such as ZnON.
Claims20
A thin film transistor, comprising:
- a gate electrode disposed above a substrate;
- a gate dielectric layer disposed over the gate electrode;
- a channel semiconductor layer disposed over the gate dielectric layer;
- a first electrode disposed over the channel semiconductor layer and at least partially defining a via;
- and
- a second electrode disposed over the channel semiconductor layer, within the via and extending over at least a portion of the first electrode.
A thin film transistor, comprising:
- a gate electrode;
- a first electrode disposed over the gate electrode;
- and
- a second electrode disposed over the first electrode.
A thin film transistor fabrication method, comprising:
- depositing a gate dielectric layer over a gate electrode;
- forming a channel semiconductor layer over the gate dielectric layer;
- forming a first electrode over the channel semiconductor layer;
- and
- forming a second electrode over the channel semiconductor layer and over at least a portion of the first electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.