Semiconductor Particle Backplane for OLED Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies for electronic devices, such as LCDs and OLEDs, face challenges with amorphous silicon, which has limited mobility and efficiency, particularly in large displays where single-crystal silicon would be advantageous, but is costly and difficult to fabricate on non-planar surfaces like silicon spheres.
Innovation Solution
The method involves positioning and planarizing semiconductor particles, like silicon spheres, on a substrate to create a backplane with controllable gated electronic components, allowing for efficient fabrication of active matrix OLED displays by exposing planar surfaces for doping and electrical connections, enabling the use of standard lithography techniques and reducing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If single-crystal silicon is used to improve electron mobility, then device performance is improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the substrate into multiple independent semiconductor particles (spheres or spheroids) rather than using a continuous single-crystal silicon wafer. Each particle can be independently fabricated, handled, and positioned, allowing standard lithography to be applied to individual particles while achieving high electron mobility in each particle without requiring an entire large-area single-crystal wafer
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses spherical or spheroidal semiconductor particles instead of planar wafers. This curved geometry allows the particles to be fabricated using conventional single-crystal silicon growth methods (achieving high electron mobility) while being small enough to be manually or automatically positioned and connected using standard lithography and wiring techniques, thus reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost for large displays
2Reliability
If single-crystal silicon wafers are used for large displays, then electron mobility is improved, but device size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the large display area into numerous small semiconductor particles, each with high electron mobility due to single-crystal silicon structure. These small particles (much smaller than a full wafer) are distributed across the display substrate, providing the necessary electron mobility performance while keeping individual particle sizes manageable and cost-effective
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the scale parameter from large single-crystal wafers to small single-crystal particles. By reducing the size from wafer-scale (300mm diameter) to particle-scale (micrometer to millimeter scale), the invention maintains the high electron mobility benefit of single-crystal silicon while making the devices suitable for large-area displays and reducing material costs
3Ease of manufacture
If amorphous silicon is used for large displays, then manufacturing is easier, but electron mobility and efficiency are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses segmented semiconductor particles that can be fabricated with single-crystal silicon structure (providing high electron mobility) rather than requiring large-area amorphous silicon deposition. Each particle is independently processed, allowing standard lithography to be used for creating the segmented structure while achieving superior electron mobility compared to amorphous silicon
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite structure combining single-crystal silicon particles with a substrate material (which could be glass, plastic, or other materials). This composite approach allows the benefits of single-crystal silicon (high electron mobility) to be integrated into a manufacturable large-area display structure, overcoming the limitations of both pure amorphous silicon and large single-crystal wafers
Data Source
AI summary
As a cost effective alternative to lithography, there is provided a method of forming an electronic device comprising the steps of: depositing a first quantity of a first liquid medium comprising a dopant on a first portion of a planar surface and depositing a second quantity of the first liquid medium on a second portion of the surface, the first quantity spaced from the second quantity by a gap; heating the first quantity, the second quantity, and the surface, the heating configured to cause diffusion of at least some of the dopant from the first liquid medium into the surface; depositing a dielectric material on the surface in the gap; selectively removing the first quantity and the second quantity from the surface; depositing an electrical contact on each of the first portion and the second portion; and depositing a further electrical contact on the dielectric material.