Dynamic Ni gettered by PSG from S-MIC poly-Si and its TFTs

A dynamic phosphor-silicate glass (PSG) gettering method is proposed in which the processes of the gettering of Ni by PSG and the crystallizing of α-Si into poly-Si by Ni take place simultaneously. The effects of PSG gettering process on the performances of solution-based metal induced crystallized (S-MIC) poly-Si materials and their thin film transistors (TFTs) are discussed. The crystallization rate is much reduced due to the fact that the Ni as a medium source of crystallization is extracted by the PSG during crystallization at the same time. The boundary between two neighbouring grains in S-MIC poly-Si with PSG looks blurrier than without PSG. Compared with the TFTs made from S-MIC poly-Si without PSG gettering, the TFTs made with PSG gettering has a reduced gate induced leakage current