IP Library Granted Patent US 8,119,465
Granted Patent B1
US 8,119,465 · App. 13/041,439 · Granted Feb 21, 2012

Thin film transistor and method for fabricating the same

Assignee: Au Optronics Corporation
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,119,465
App. No.
13/041,439
Granted
Feb 21, 2012
Kind
B1
Abstract

A method of fabricating a thin film transistor including: forming a gate on a substrate; forming a gate insulation layer on the substrate to cover the gate; forming an oxide semiconductor layer on the gate insulation layer; forming a translucent layer on a partial region of the oxide semiconductor layer; performing an optical annealing process to transform the oxide semiconductor layer into an oxide channel layer and two ohmic contact layers by using the translucent layer as a mask, where the oxide channel layer is located under the translucent layer, and the ohmic contact layers are respectively located beside the oxide channel layer and are connected with the oxide channel layer; and forming a source and a drain electrically insulated from each other on the gate insulation layer and the ohmic contact layers.

Claims (30)

1. A method of fabricating a thin film transistor, the method comprising:

forming a gate on a substrate;

forming a gate insulation layer on the substrate to cover the gate;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer on the gate insulation layer;

forming a translucent layer on a partial region of the oxide semiconductor layer;

performing an optical annealing process to transform the oxide semiconductor layer into an oxide channel layer and two ohmic contact layers by using the translucent layer as a mask, wherein the oxide channel layer is located under the translucent layer, and the ohmic contact layers are respectively located beside the oxide channel layer and connected with the oxide channel layer; and

forming a source and a drain electrically insulated from each other on the gate insulation layer and the ohmic contact layers.

2. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a material of the oxide semiconductor layer comprises indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), indium gallium oxide (IGO), zinc oxide (ZnO), cadmium oxide·germanium dioxide (2CdO.GeO 2 ), or nickel cobalt oxide (NiCo 2 O 4 ).

3. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a material of the translucent layer comprises silicon oxide (SiO x ), silicon nitride (SiN x ), titanium oxide (TiO x ), indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ), InGaO 3 , InGaZnO, tin oxide (SnO 2 ), ZnO, zinc indium oxide (Zn 2 In 2 O 5 ), argentum (Ag), zinc tin oxide (ZnSnO 3 ), zinc tin oxide (Zn 2 SnO 4 ), or amorphous silicon (α-Si).

4. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the optical annealing process is performed by irradiating the translucent layer and the oxide semiconductor layer with a laser beam.

5. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 4 , wherein an energy of the laser beam decays to 10%-90% after the laser beam passes through the translucent layer.

6. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the translucent layer comprises a translucent light-shielding layer or a translucent light-absorption layer.

7. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a sheet resistance of the ohmic contact layers is Rs1(Ω/□), a sheet resistance of the oxide channel layer is Rs2(Ω/□), and Rs2/Rs1 is about 10 8 .

8. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 7 , wherein Rs1 is about 10 4 Ω/□ and Rs2 is about 10 12Ω/□ .

9. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising forming a dielectric layer between the translucent layer and the oxide semiconductor layer.

10. A method of fabricating a thin film transistor, the method comprising:

forming a gate on a substrate;

forming a gate insulation layer on the substrate to cover the gate;

forming a source and a drain electrically insulated from each other on the gate insulation layer;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer on the gate insulation layer, the source, and the drain;

forming a translucent layer on a partial region of the oxide semiconductor layer; and

performing an optical annealing process to transform the oxide semiconductor layer into an oxide channel layer and two ohmic contact layers by using the translucent layer as a mask, wherein the oxide channel layer is located under the translucent layer, and the ohmic contact layers are respectively located beside the oxide channel layer and connected with the oxide channel layer.

11. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a material of the oxide semiconductor layer comprises IGZO, IZO, IGO, ZnO, 2CdO·GeO 2 , or NiCo 2 O 4 .

12. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a material of the translucent layer comprises SiO x , SiN X , TiO x , In 2 O 3 , InGaO 3 , InGaZnO, SnO 2 , ZnO, Zn 2 In 2 O 5 , Ag, ZnSnO 3 , Zn 2 SnO 4 , or α-Si.

13. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the optical annealing process is performed by irradiating the translucent layer and the oxide semiconductor layer with a laser beam.

14. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 13 , wherein an energy of the laser beam decays to 10%-90% after the laser beam passes through the translucent layer.

15. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the translucent layer comprises a translucent light-shielding layer or a translucent light-absorption layer.

16. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a sheet resistance of the ohmic contact layers is Rs1(Ω/□) sheet resistance of the oxide channel layer is Rs2(Ω/□), and Rs2/Rs1 is about 10 8 .

17. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 16 , wherein Rs1 is about 10 4 Ω/□ and Rs2 is about 10 12Ω/□ .

18. The method of fabricating the thin film transistor as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising forming a dielectric layer between the translucent layer and the oxide semiconductor layer before the translucent layer is formed.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 24, 2025
From: AUO CORPORATION
To: NEOLAYER LLC
Reel/Frame 072266/0941 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 10, 2011
From: LIN, WU-HSIUNG; SUN, MING-WEI
To: AU OPTRONICS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 025930/0606 →
Priority Claims (1)
TW 99136504 · Oct 26, 2010 · national