A study on the leakage current of poly-Si TFTs fabricated by metal induced lateral crystallization

Leakage current of poly-Si TFT fabricated by a metal induced lateral crystallization(MILC) process was investigated in terms of metal contamination and crystallization mechanisms. MILC poly-Si TFTs showed a higher leakage current than those by the solid phase crystallization method at high drain voltages. It turned out that the Ni rich phases in the depleted junction region played the role of trapping and recombination centers to generate the leakage currents and that the leakage current was generated by thermionic field emission. The leakage current could be drastically reduced to 5 pA/(mo)m at V(GS) = 0 V and V(DS) = 15 V after the exclusion of the Ni-rich phase from the junction region by a Ni offset MILC process.