Reducing leakage current in a thin-film transistor with charge carrier densities that vary in two dimensions

Abstract

In the channel layer of a thin film transistor (TFT), a channel and its drain meet at a transition within a transition region. The channel extends in a first, or horizontal, dimension away from the drain and extends in a second, or vertical, dimension from a side away from the gate to a side toward the gate. The charge carrier densities in the transition region vary in the second dimension in a way that reduces leakage current, because the position of the maximum electric field is moved away from the gate and its magnitude is reduced. Variation of densities in the second dimension can be produced by high angle implantation of a dopant and a counterdopant, providing a transition region between the drain and the channel underneath the gate. Variation of densities in the second dimension can also be produced with non-angled implantation by a process in which a sidewall spacer offsets the drain, providing a transition region that is between the drain and the channel and that can be doped independently of the drain. In a symmetric TFT in which either channel lead can function as a drain, charge carrier densities can vary in the second dimension at the transitions between each channel lead and the channel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.