A multi-channel structure to enhance the performance of a sequential lateral solidification thin-film transistor

Sequential lateral solidification (SLS) thin-film transistors (TFTs) offer higher performance than conventional excimer laser-annealed TFTs. However, their performance has an anisotropy originating from the polycrystalline silicon (p-Si) microstructure. The properties of TFTs with channel direction parallel to the lateral growth (parallel TFTs) are superior to those of TFTs with a perpendicular channel direction (perpendicular TFTs). The multi-channel structure proposed in this paper, which directly incorporates a parallel component in a perpendicular TFT, exhibits greatly improved properties. This MC structure can be applied not only to p-Si produced by SLS, but also to any material with property anisotropy.