Edge Effect Analysis on TFT Devices Using 3D Numerical Simulation

1. Introduction

3D TFT analysis has been getting lots of attention due to issues caused by 3D effects such as the edge effect on the TFT characteristics. The presence of an enhanced electrical field at the edges of the channel has been reported to affect the TFT characteristics in the sub-threshold region [1-2]. The hump characteristics observed in poly-Si TFTs or crystalline metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) is often explained by this edge effect and is considered to be related to the shape of the edge.

In this article, we present the simulation results for the four different edge shapes by 3-dimensional analysis using Victory Process and Victory Device, and we show the influence of the edge profiles on the electrical characteristics.