Thin-film transistor fabrication for high brightness reconfigurable vacuum fluorescent displays

Author

Troxell, John R. ; Harrington, Marie Irene ; Shi, Qian ; Nachtegall, Debbie E. ; Hile, John W.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Gen. Motors Res. Labs., Warren, MI, USA

Volume

43

Issue

5

fYear

1996

fDate

5/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

706

Lastpage

712

Abstract

The design and fabrication of a thin-film transistor array for use in a reconfigurable, active matrix vacuum fluorescent display suitable for high ambient light operating conditions such as automotive instrument clusters is described. Thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays were fabricated in a novel 4-transistor per pixel configuration using a p-channel polycrystalline silicon transistor fabrication process. Display assembly was then completed by the Futaba Corporation. The robust transistor structure is capable of enduring the 550°C post-processing anneal temperature associated with phosphor deposition and packaging, Initial displays yielded luminances of 2500 ftL when operated at 40 V, and suggest an ultimate brightness of 5000 ftL for 55 V operation

Keywords

MOS integrated circuits; brightness; display instrumentation; elemental semiconductors; integrated circuit technology; silicon; thin film transistors; 40 to 55 V; 550 C; Si; TFT fabrication; active matrix display; automotive instrument clusters; high brightness displays; p-channel polycrystalline Si transistor; phosphor deposition; pixel addressing circuit; polysilicon transistor fabrication process; post-processing anneal; reconfigurable displays; thin-film transistor array; vacuum fluorescent displays; Assembly; Automotive engineering; Brightness; Displays; Fabrication; Fluorescence; Instruments; Optical arrays; Silicon; Thin film transistors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.491246

Filename

491246