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Low Temperature Thin-film Silicon Diodes for Consumer Electronics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Qi Wang,
Scott Ward,
Anna Duda,
Jian Hua,
Paul Stradins,
Richard S. Crandall,
Howard M. Branz,
Frank Jeffrey,
Hao Lou and
Craig Perlov
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Qi Wang
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Scott Ward
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Anna Duda
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Jian Hua
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Paul Stradins
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Richard S. Crandall
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Howard M. Branz
Affiliation:
Electronic Materials and Devices Division, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 USA Email>: qi wang@nrel.gov
Frank Jeffrey
Affiliation:
Iowa Thin Film Technologies (ITFT), AMES, IA, 50010 USA
Hao Lou
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratory, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Craig Perlov
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratory, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Warren Jackson
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratory, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Ping Mei
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratory, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Carl Taussig
Affiliation:
Hewlett-Packard Laboratory, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
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Abstract

We have developed high current density thin-film silicon n-i-p diodes for low cost and low temperature two-dimensional diode-logic memory array applications. The diodes are fabricated at temperatures below 250°C on glass, stainless steel, and plastic substrates using hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The 0.01-mm2 standalone diodes have a forward current-density (J) of near 10 kA/cm2 and a rectification ratio over 107 at ±2 V. The 25 μm2 array diodes have J > 104 A/cm2 and rectification of 105 at ±2V. On plastic substrates, we have also used plasma-enhanced CVD to deposit 10-μm diameter diodes with J ˜ 5 x 104 A/cm2. We found that the use of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) i- and nlayers results in higher current-density diodes than with amorphous silicon. Reducing the diode area increases the forward current density by lowering the voltage drop across the external series resistances. A prototype diode array memory based on 10-micron devices was successfully demonstrated by monolithically integrating diodes with a-Si:H switching elements. High current density diodes have potential applications in a variety of large area, thin-film electronic devices, in addition to a-Si:H-based memory. This could widen the application of thin-film silicon beyond its present industrial applications in thin-film transistors, solar cells, bolometers and photo-detectors.

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