Nano-structured large area electronics

Summary form only given. The evolution in materials and process fabrication technologies is posing new challenges and application areas in large area electronics. A driving force in this evolution is thin film Si technology. Interest in Si thin film technology stems from a variety of desired technological features including low temperature manufacturing with few constraints on the substrate size, material, or topology. More recently, the extension of this technology to flexible plastic substrates has received considerable attention. Interests on plastic is being driven by the need for lightweight, unbreakable, and foldable screens for a plethora of new application areas related to the human-machine interface. While the need for this technology is overwhelming, the material is intrinsically limited in speed and stability, as compared to poly-Si or crystalline-Si. Hence, the quest for improved material structure at low deposition temperatures and improved system stability through use of circuit compensation techniques. This talk will review these challenges. Specifically, it examines growth conditions for realization of nano-crystalline Si along with design considerations pertinent to thin film circuits whose integration requires non-conventional design solutions to deal with the high instability. The family of devices and circuits presented here are applicable for a new generation of displays based on the organic light emitting diode.