Thin film transistors fabricated on plastic substrates
First Claim
1. A thin film transistor comprising:
- a) a substrate,b) a polymeric encapsulation film which covers said substrate,c) a gate electrode,d) a gate insulating layer,e) a semiconducting channel layer deposited on top of said gate insulating layer,f) an insulating encapsulation layer positioned on said channel layer,g) a source electrode,h) a drain electrode, andi) a contact layer situated beneath each of said source and drain electrodes and in contact with at least said channel layerwherein said substrate is a plastic having a low glass transition temperature.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A thin film transistor is described incorporating a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, a semiconducting channel layer deposited on top of the gate insulating layer, an insulating encapsulation layer positioned on the channel layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode and a contact layer beneath each of the source and drain electrodes and in contact with at least the channel layer, all of which are situated on a plastic substrate. By enabling the use of plastics having low glass transition temperatures as substrates, the thin film transistors may be used in large area electronics such as information displays and light sensitive arrays for imaging which are flexible, lighter in weight and more impact resistant than displays fabricated on traditional glass substrates. The thin film transistors are useful in active matrix liquid crystal displays where the plastic substrates are transparent in the visible spectrum. Enablement of the use of such plastics is by way of the use of polymeric encapsulation films to coat the surfaces of the plastic substrates prior to subsequent processing and the use of novel low temperature processes for the deposition of thin film transistor structures.
162 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A thin film transistor comprising:
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a) a substrate, b) a polymeric encapsulation film which covers said substrate, c) a gate electrode, d) a gate insulating layer, e) a semiconducting channel layer deposited on top of said gate insulating layer, f) an insulating encapsulation layer positioned on said channel layer, g) a source electrode, h) a drain electrode, and i) a contact layer situated beneath each of said source and drain electrodes and in contact with at least said channel layer wherein said substrate is a plastic having a low glass transition temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A thin film transistor comprising:
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a) a substrate, b) a polymeric encapsulation film which covers said substrate, c) a gate electrode, d) a gate insulating layer, e) a semiconducting channel layer deposited on top of said gate insulating layer, f) a contact layer positioned over said channel layer and being discontinuous such that said contact layer consists of two sections, g) a source electrode in contact with one of said two sections of said contact layer, h) a drain electrode in contact with the other of said two sections of said contact layer, and i) an insulating encapsulation layer in contact with at least a part of said source electrode, said drain electrode, said channel layer and said contact layers, wherein said substrate is a plastic having a low glass transition temperature. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A thin film transistor comprising:
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a) a substrate, b) a polymeric encapsulation film which covers said substrate, c) a conducting gate layer, d) a protective layer over the top of said gate metal layer, e) a gate insulating layer, f) a semiconducting channel layer deposited on top of said gate insulating layer, g) an insulating encapsulation layer positioned on said channel layer said layer having two apertures therein, h) a thin semiconductor layer positioned in each of said apertures and over a part of the top of said insulating encapsulation layer and coating the walls of said apertures and contacting said channel layer, i) a source electrode consisting of a conducting polymer deposited in one of said apertures and in contact with said thin contact layer, and j) a drain electrode consisting of a conducting polymer deposited in the other of said apertures and in contact with said thin semiconductor layer, wherein said substrate is a plastic having a low glass transition temperature. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification