PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-8987049-B2
Application Number: US-201414474433-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Gate insulator loss free etch-stop oxide thin film transistor

Abstract:
A method is provided for fabricating a thin-film transistor (TFT). The method includes forming a semiconductor layer over a gate insulator that covers a gate electrode, and depositing an insulator layer over the semiconductor layer, as well as etching the insulator layer to form a patterned etch-stop without losing the gate insulator. The method also includes forming a source electrode and a drain electrode over the semiconductor layer and the patterned etch-stop. The method further includes removing a portion of the semiconductor layer beyond the source electrode and the drain electrode such that a remaining portion of the semiconductor layer covers the gate insulator in a first overlapping area of the source electrode and the gate electrode and a second overlapping area of the drain electrode and gate electrode.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of fabricating a thin-film transistor (TFT), the method comprising:
 forming a semiconductor layer over a gate insulator that covers a gate electrode; 
 depositing an insulator layer over the semiconductor layer; 
 etching the insulator layer to form a patterned etch-stop without losing the gate insulator; 
 forming a source electrode and a drain electrode over the semiconductor layer and the patterned etch-stop; and 
 removing a portion of the semiconductor layer beyond the source electrode and the drain electrode such that a remaining portion of the semiconductor layer covers the gate insulator in a first overlapping area of the source electrode and the gate electrode and a second overlapping area of the drain electrode and gate electrode. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor layer comprises an oxide semiconductor selected from a group consisting of indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO), zinc oxide (ZnO), indium oxide (InO), gallium oxide (GaO), tin oxide (SnO2), indium gallium oxide (IGO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc tin oxide (ZTO), and indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO). 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gate insulator comprises one or more layers of one or more dielectric materials, each material being selected from a group consisting of silicon oxide (SiO 2 ), silicon nitride (SiN x ), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), and organic material. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode comprises one or more layers of a conductive material selected from a group consisting of copper, copper alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, titanium, and molybdenum. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gate electrode is formed on a substrate that comprises a glass. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the insulator layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon oxide and aluminum oxide.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/629,537, filed Sep. 27, 2012, entitled “Gate Insulator Loss Free Etch-Stop Oxide Thin Film Transistor,” which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §1.119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/682,161, filed Aug. 10, 2012, entitled “Gate Insulator Loss Free Etch-Stop Oxide Thin Film Transistor,” both of which are incorporated by reference as if fully disclosed herein. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention generally relates to oxide thin film transistor (TFT) for a liquid crystal display. More specifically, the invention relates to an TFT with a semiconductor indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO). 
     BACKGROUND 
     Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) generally display images by transmitting or blocking light through the action of liquid crystals. LCDs have been used in a variety of computing displays and devices, including notebook computers, desktop computers, tablet computing devices, mobile phones (including smart phones) automobile in-cabin displays, on appliances, as televisions, and so on. LCDs often use an active matrix to drive liquid crystals in a pixel region. In some LCDs, a thin-film transistor (TFT) is used as a switching element in the active matrix. 
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a perspective view of a sample electronic device, such as a tablet computer. The electronic device includes a touch screen display  100  enclosed by a housing  138 . The touch screen display  100 A incorporates a cover glass  102  and an LCD  100 B behind the cover glass  102 , although alternative embodiments may employ an organic light-emitting display (OLED) layer instead of an LCD. The LCD  100 B is not shown in  FIG. 1A . 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments described herein may provide an oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) for a liquid crystal display (LCD). The TFT may include a semiconductor extension, such as an indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) extension. The semiconductor extension is configured to protect a gate insulator from loss during etching of the etch-stop (ES). Specifically, the semiconductor extension is configured such that a source electrode or a drain electrode does not contact the gate insulator in an overlapping area of the gate electrode and source electrode and in an overlapping area of the gate electrode and drain electrode. The IGZO is zinc oxide based and contains indium and gallium. 
     During processing, the IGZO extension covers the gate insulator in the overlapping areas between the gate electrode and the source electrode and also between the gate electrode and drain electrode, such that the IGZO extension protects the gate insulator during etching of the ES from loss. This absence of gate insulator loss may help reduce thickness variation in the gate insulator and thus capacitance variation between the gate and the source electrodes, and also capacitance variation between the gate and the drain electrodes. The disclosure also provides methods for fabricating the TFT with the semiconductor extension or IGZO extension. 
     In one embodiment, a method is provided for fabricating a thin-film transistor (TFT). The method includes forming a semiconductor layer over a gate insulator that covers a gate electrode, and depositing an insulator layer over the semiconductor layer, as well as etching the insulator layer to form a patterned etch-stop without losing the gate insulator. The method also includes forming a source electrode and a drain electrode over the semiconductor layer and the patterned etch-stop. The method further includes removing a portion of the semiconductor layer beyond the source electrode and the drain electrode such that a remaining portion of the semiconductor layer covers the gate insulator in a first overlapping area of the source electrode and the gate electrode and a second overlapping area of the drain electrode and gate electrode. 
     In another embodiment, a thin film transistor (TFT) is provided. The TFT includes a gate electrode disposed over a substrate, a gate insulator disposed over the gate electrode, and a semiconductor layer disposed over the gate insulator. The TFT also includes an insulator formed over the semiconductor layer. The TFT further includes a source electrode having a first portion covering a first portion of the insulator and a drain electrode having a first portion covering a second portion of the insulator. The semiconductor layer is configured to extend outwardly from the insulator layer and to cover the gate insulator to prevent from loss of the gate insulator during an etching of the insulator layer. 
     Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention. A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  illustrates a perspective view of an IPAD. 
         FIG. 1B  shows an exploded perspective view of the liquid crystal display (prior art). 
         FIG. 2  shows a plan view of the pixel region of  FIG. 1B , including a sample TFT. 
         FIG. 3  shows an exploded cross-sectional view of the sample TFT of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of an ES deposition with gate insulator loss. 
         FIG. 5A  illustrates a plan view of a pixel region with a TFT in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5B  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the TFT area of  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 6A  shows a cross-sectional view of a gate deposition and an IGZO deposition in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6B  shows a cross-sectional view of an ES deposition in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6C  illustrates a plan view of the pixel region after the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6B . 
         FIG. 6D  shows a sample cross-sectional view of a source/drain deposition following the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6B . 
         FIG. 6E  shows a sample cross-sectional view of the TFT after completing the etching operation by the fourth patterned photoresist of  FIG. 6D . 
         FIG. 6F  shows a sample cross-sectional view of a first passivation deposition, an organic insulator deposition, and a common electrode deposition following the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6D . 
         FIG. 6G  shows a sample cross-sectional view of a second passivation deposition and a pixel electrode deposition following the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6F . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure may be understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings as described below. It is noted that, for purposes of illustrative clarity, certain elements in various drawings may not be drawn to scale. 
     The present disclosure provides a TFT with a semiconductor extension or an IGZO extension for protecting the gate insulator (GI) from loss during etching. The reduction in gate insulator loss may help minimize capacitance variations in the TFT area. The TFT also includes an etch-stop layer which covers an entire aperture area to help improve optical uniformity. 
       FIG. 1B  shows an exploded perspective view of a sample liquid crystal display  100 B (prior art), as may be used with the sample computing device of  FIG. 1A . The liquid crystal display  100 B may include a color filter substrate  152 , an array substrate  144 , and a liquid crystal layer  146  between the color substrate  152  and the array substrate  144 , although some embodiments may omit or change the orders of one or more of these layers. A number of sub-color filters  158  may include red, green and blue colors, and may be arranged on the color filter substrate  152 . A black matrix  156  may also be arranged on the color substrate  152  to divide the sub-color filters  158 . Some embodiments may replace one or more of the red, green and blue filters with a yellow filter, a cyan filter, a clear filter, or another color filter. Further, the number of color filters and their arrangement may vary in certain embodiments. 
     There are a number of gate lines  150  and data lines  148  arranged horizontally and vertically to define a pixel region  140 . The pixel region  140  may be generally rectangular in shape or square in shape. Still other embodiments may have differently-shaped pixel regions. 
     Returning to  FIG. 1B , each pixel region  140  has a TFT area  142  located at its corner (as indicated by the circled region). The TFT area  142  switches a respective pixel for each pixel region  140  on and off. The pixel regions  140  are arranged on the array substrate  144 , which may be formed of a glass. Each pixel region  140  also includes a liquid crystal layer  146 . Typically, there is a unique pixel electrode  160  for each pixel region  140 . A common electrode  154  may be attached to the color filter substrate  152 . A voltage between the pixel electrode  160  and the common electrode  154  may be applied to the liquid crystal layer  146  for each pixel region  140 . The voltage may control the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer  146  and to control light transmission for each pixel of the LCD. 
       FIG. 2  shows a plan view of a sample TFT. The pixel region  140  includes an active area (also referred to herein as an “aperture area”)  202  above a dash-line and the TFT area  142  below the dash-line. In the active area  202 , a gate insulator layer may be inadvertently thinned too much during manufacture, thus resulting in variations in thickness across the pixel or between pixels, which in turn may create an optical non-uniformity across the LCD. In the TFT area  142 , this gate insulator loss may result in a variance in capacitance between the gate electrode  214  and the source electrode  208 A, and/or a variance in capacitance between the gate electrode  214  and the drain electrode  208 B. 
     The thickness of the gate insulator layer may vary during an etching process implemented to form an etch-stop  206 A between the source  208 A and drain  208 B. The gate insulator loss may cover part or all of the entire active area or aperture area  202  and also a large portion of the TFT area  142 , except the etch-stop  206 A. The etch-stop  206 A is in a rectangular shape oriented vertically, although it may have other shapes. The etch-stop  206 A overlaps with a portion of a source electrode or region  208 A and a drain electrode or region  208 B. A semiconductor layer  212  is also shown in a rectangular shape oriented horizontally, which overlaps with a portion of the source region  208 A and drain region  208 B, as well as etch-stop  206 A. The semiconductor layer  212  may be formed of indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) or others and the like. 
     A data line  148 A may be connected to source region or electrode  208 A, as shown in  FIG. 2 . A gate line  150  may be connected to gate electrode or region  214 . This connection is not shown in this view of  FIG. 2 . The data line  148 A and gate line  150  may be connected to multiple TFTs as shown in  FIG. 1B . Data line  148 B is for a neighboring TFT. 
       FIG. 3  shows an exploded cross-sectional view of a sample TFT, such as that depicted in  FIG. 2 . The TFT area  142  includes gate electrode  204  disposed over a substrate  144 , a source electrode  208 A and a drain electrode  208 B. The TFT area  142  also includes a gate insulator  302  disposed over the gate electrode  204 , a semiconductor layer, such as IGZO  212 , over the gate insulator  302  and an etch-stop  206 A over the IGZO  212 . The etch-stop  206 A is positioned to separate the source electrode  208 A and the drain electrode  208 B. The IGZO  212  extends beyond the etch-stop  206 A sideway and connects to both the source electrode  208 A and the drain electrode  208 B. The TFT area  142  also includes a planarization layer  304  over the source electrode  208 A and drain electrode  208 B. The TFT area  142  further includes a common electrode  306  for all pixels. The common electrode  306  is disposed over the planarization layer  304 . The TFT area  142  also includes a pixel electrode  310 , and a passivation layer  308  that separates the common electrode  306  from the pixel electrode  310 . The planarization layer  304  may be formed of an organic insulator, such as a photoactive compound (PAC) and may provide a flat surface for forming more layers, such as forming the common electrode  306  and the pixel electrode  310  among others. The pixel electrode  310  may be connected to the drain electrode  208 B or source electrode  208 A (not shown). The source and drain electrodes may be interchangeable. 
       FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of an ES deposition for forming the etch-stop of  FIG. 3  with gate insulator loss, as the arrows A-A in  FIG. 2  illustrate where the cross-section is. The etching process for forming the etch-stop may result in a gate insulator loss. As shown, the gate electrode  204  may be formed on a portion of the substrate  144 . The gate insulator  302  may cover the gate electrode  204 . The semiconductor such as IGZO  212  may be deposited on the gate insulator  302  in the region above the gate electrode  204 . An etch-stop (ES) layer  206  may be disposed over the IGZO  212 . The ES stop layer  206  may be formed of an insulator, such as SiO 2 , and the like. Then, a photoresist layer  314  is disposed over the ES layer  206  to cover a portion  206 A of the etch-stop layer  206 . A remaining portion  206 B of the ES layer  206  is not covered by the photoresist  314  and so is exposed. The exposed ES portion  206 B may be removed by etching. During the etching, the gate insulator  302  may be removed along with the etch-stop  206 B, because it is difficult to distinguish the etch-stop  206 B from the gate insulator  302  that is below the etch-stop  206 B. This difficulty arises since the gate insulator  302  may be formed of similar materials to the ES  206 . Thus, as one example, the gate insulator  302  may be etched away down to the dashed line  316 , rather than leaving the entirety of the gate insulator intact (represented by line  318 ). The difference between the lines  316  and  318  is referred as “gate insulator loss.” 
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a plan view of a pixel region with a TFT in accordance with a sample embodiment. An entire pixel region  500  includes a pixel area  500 A above a dash-line and a TFT area  500 B below the dash-line. The TFT area  500 B includes an IGZO extension that prevents the gate insulator loss during an etching process for the etch-stop. An etch-stop (ES) layer  502  may cover the entire pixel region  500  except two etch-stop holes  506 A-B, illustrated by lines contoured  514 A and  514 B, respectively. For example, the etch-stop layer  502  may be in a rectangular shape as shown. In addition, a gate electrode  504  may also be rectangular-shaped and may overlap with a source electrode  508 A and a drain electrode  508 B. The source and drain electrodes  508 A and  508 B may be separated by ES  502 . The two ES holes  506 A-B as contoured by lines  514 A and  514 B may overlap at least portions of the source electrode  508 A and drain electrode  508 B. A portion of the etch-stop layer  502  is positioned between the source electrode  508 A and the drain electrode  508 B. The etch-stop  502  may help improve optical uniformity in the pixel area or aperture area  500 A, as the etch-stop may minimize gate insulator loss in the pixel area  500 A. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the source and drain electrodes  508 A and  508 B may be interchangeable. 
     A semiconductor layer may be placed under the ES layer  502 . In a particular embodiment, the semiconductor layer may be an indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO). The IGZO has a relatively high mobility, such as 1-100 cm 2 /Vs, compared to an amorphous silicon thin-film transistor. In addition, the IGZO may be optically transparent. The semiconductor layer, such as IGZO layer, overlaps with a larger portion of the source and drain electrodes  508 A and  508 B than the ES  502 . Specifically, an IGZO extension  512  may be under the ES  502  between the source and drain electrodes  508 A and  508 B. A portion of the IGZO extension  512  positioned under the ES  502  may have the same or similar surface area as the ES  502 . The IGZO extension  512  may also include a first overlapping area  510 A between source  508 A and gate  504 , and a second overlapping area  510 B between drain  508 B and gate  504  (see  FIG. 5A ). The first and second overlapping areas  510 A-B are on the two ends of the ES  502 . Because the IGZO extension  512  covers the overlapping area  510 A and  510 B, there is little or no gate insulator loss in these areas. 
     The IGZO may be replaced by other semiconductor materials in some embodiments. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the semiconductor layer may include or incorporate other materials, for example, zinc oxide (ZnO), indium oxide (InO), gallium oxide (GaO), tin oxide (SnO2), indium gallium oxide (IGO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc tin oxide (ZTO), and indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO) among others. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5A , a first data line  532 A may be connected to source electrode  508 A. A second data line  532 B may be connected to a neighboring source electrode (not shown). A gate line  530  may be connected to gate electrode  504 , although this connection is not shown in this view. This gate line  530  and first data line  532 A may have similar functions to the vertical and horizontal gate lines  150  and data lines  148  shown in  FIG. 1B . 
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the TFT area  500 B of  FIG. 5A  as the arrows B-B shown in  FIG. 5A  illustrate where the cross-section is. The TFT area  500 B includes a gate electrode  504 , a source electrode  508 A, and a drain electrode  508 B. The TFT  500 B also includes a planarization layer  526 , a common electrode  518 , a pixel electrode  520 , and a passivation layer  522  that separates the common electrode  518  from the pixel electrode  520 . The planarization layer  526  may be formed of an organic insulator, such as PAC Planarization layer  526  may be formed of an inorganic material, such as silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ), and an organic material, such as acrylate, and/or an organic-inorganic hybrid like siloxane. The planarization layer may provide a flat surface for forming more layers, including the common electrode  518  and the pixel electrode  520 . The PAC has relatively low dielectric constant, often considerably lower than the passivation layer  522 . The pixel electrode  520  may be connected to the drain electrode  508 B. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5A  again, the data line  532 A and the gate line  530  may be controlled by a controller for an LCD (not shown) to change the “on” and “off” states of the TFT. Referring to  FIG. 5B  now, the pixel electrode  520  may be connected to the drain electrode  508 B. A control signal is generated from the TFT, such that a voltage between the pixel electrode  520  and the common electrode  518  may be applied to the respective pixel. 
     The common electrode  518  and the pixel electrode  520  may be formed of a transparent conductive material, such as indium-tin oxide (ITO). The passivation layer  522  may be formed of a dielectric material. For example, SiNx may be used for forming the passivation layer  522 , since SiNx has relatively high dielectric constant. Because of the high dielectric constant, SiNx, when used as a passivation layer  522 , may provide a better capacitance match to the capacitor formed between the common electrode  518  and the pixel electrode  520 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5B , the gate electrode  504  may be formed on the substrate  524 . The substrate  524  may be transparent. The IGZO  512  may extend to cover the gate insulator  516  to protect the gate insulator  516  from loss during etching of the etch-stop layer to form the etch-stop  502 . The source and drain layers  508 A and  508 B are separated from the gate insulator  516  in the overlapping area of the gate electrode with the source and drain electrodes (between two vertical dash-lines in  FIG. 5B ). This separation is different from the IGZO  206 A arrangement as shown in  FIG. 3A , where the IGZO  206 A does not extend outwardly, and so the source and drain  208 A-B contact the gate insulator  302  in the overlapping area of the gate with the source and the drain (between two vertical lines in  FIG. 3 ). The gate electrode  504 , source electrode  508 A and the drain electrode  508 B may be formed of a conductive material having low electrical resistance, such as copper or aluminum and the like. 
       FIGS. 6A-6B , and  FIG. 6C-6G  illustrate various cross-sectional views of different operations of a mask process that may form a TFT structure for a pixel of an LCD, in accordance with an embodiment. Initially,  FIG. 6A  illustrates a cross-sectional view of a gate deposition and an IGZO deposition in an embodiment. A first patterned photoresist for the gate electrode is not shown in  FIG. 6A . A first mask is used to form the first patterned photoresist is also not shown in  FIG. 6A  for simplicity. 
     Generally, a photoresist film may be made of a photosensitive material; exposure to light (or particular wavelengths of light) to develop the photoresist. The developed photoresist may be insoluble or soluble to a developer. There may be two types of photoresist, a positive photoresist and a negative photoresist. The positive photoresist is soluble to the photoresist developer. The portion of the positive photoresist that is unexposed remains insoluble to the photoresist developer. The negative resist is a type of photoresist in which the portion of the photoresist that is exposed to light becomes insoluble to the photoresist developer. The unexposed portion of the photoresist is dissolved by the photoresist developer. 
     In embodiments disclosed below, a photoresist is first deposited on a surface, and then light is selectively passed through a patterned mask that may block light in certain areas. The exposed photoresist film is developed through the patterned mask to form the photoresist patterns as shown. The exposed photoresist film protects the layers underneath during an etching process, such that the portion exposed by the photoresist may be completely removed by the etching process, such as a wet etching. Portions of underlying layers that are protected by photoresist generally are not removed or otherwise etched. After etching to form a pattern of a deposited layer by using photoresist, the insoluble photoresist is removed prior to the next deposition operation. Different masks may be provided to form various films with different patterns. In alternative embodiments, different photoresist may be used. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6A , a second patterned photoresist  602  covers a portion of an IGZO layer  612 . The IGZO layer  612  may be deposited over a gate insulator layer  516 , which covers a gate electrode  504 . The second patterned photoresist  602  is developed and protects the portion of the IGZO layer  612  underneath during etching to form an IGZO  606 . The exposed portion or non-covered portion of the IGZO layer  612  will be removed by the etching. The remaining portion  606  of the IGZO layer  612  is shown in  FIG. 6B . The second patterned photoresist  602  may be removed after the etching of the IGZO prior to the next deposition operation. 
       FIG. 6B  shows a sample cross-sectional view of an ES deposition layer following the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6A .  FIG. 6B  shows that a third patterned photoresist  604  may be placed on an etch-stop layer  502  which is deposited on top of the remaining portion  606  of the IGZO layer  612 . The third patterned photoresist  604  is formed by a third mask (not shown) with a predetermined pattern. The third patterned photoresist  604  covers a portion of the etch-stop layer  502 . 
     Next, an etching operation removes the exposed etch-stop layer  502  to form ES  610 , which is a remaining portion of ES  502  under the third patterned photoresist  604 . After the etching operation using the third patterned photoresist  604 , the etching holes  514 A-B are formed. During etching of the ES layer  502 , the IGZO layer  606  protects the gate insulator  516  from loss. 
       FIG. 6C  illustrates a simplified plan view of the pixel region after completing etching with the third patterned photoresist. As shown, an ES layer  502  covers the entire pixel region except two ES holes illustrated by contoured dash-lines  514 A and  514 B. A semiconductor layer  606 , such as IGZO layer, may fill the ES holes  514 A-B to protect the gate insulator from loss during the etching of the ES. An ES portion  610  may be formed between the two ES holes  514 A-B in the gate electrode  504 . The semiconductor  606 , such as IGZO layer, is also underneath the ES portion  610 , which is shown more clearly in  FIG. 6D  below. A gate line  530  may be connected to the gate electrode  504  (not shown). 
       FIG. 6D  shows a sample cross-sectional view of a source and drain deposition and a fourth mask to form a fourth patterned photoresist following the operation as illustrated in  FIG. 6B . As shown in  FIG. 6D , a source/drain layer  618  may be disposed over the ES  610  and an exposed portion of the remaining IGZO layer  606 , or a portion is not covered by the ES  610 . A fourth patterned photoresist  614  covers a portion of the source and drain layer  618 . The exposed portions of the source and drain layer  618  (e.g., the portions not covered by the fourth patterned photoresist  614 ) are etched away to form source  618 A and drain  618 B. Likewise, the etching operation also removes the exposed portion of the IGZO  606  to form IGZO section  616 , which is a remaining portion under the photoresist  614 . 
       FIG. 6E  shows a cross-sectional view of the TFT after another etching operation. Note that the source and drain  618 A and  618 B are formed partially on top of the etch-stop  610  and partially on top of a patterned IGZO layer  616 . The vertical edges of the source and drain  618 A-Bare substantially aligned with the vertical edges of the semiconductor layer  616 . Referring to  FIG. 5A  again, the remaining IGZO portion  616  includes IGZO  510 A and IGZO  510 B in the ES holes after the etching operation with the fourth patterned photoresist  614 . The remaining portion  616  also includes an IGZO portion located under the ES  502  and is similar to IGZO  512  (see  FIG. 5B ). 
     Referring to  FIG. 6D  again, edge  1  is defined by the fourth patterned photoresist  614  while edge  2  is defined by the ES  610 . Even though edge  1  looks apparently parallel to edge  2  as shown in  FIG. 6D , edge  1  is actually substantially perpendicular to the edge  2  as shown in  FIG. 5A . Referring to  FIG. 5A  again, edge  1  is substantially parallel to a Y-axis and edge  2  is substantially parallel to an X-axis which is perpendicular to the Y-axis. This is because the layout to the right side of the edge  2  in  FIG. 6D  is actually rotated by about 90 degrees from the layout to the left side of the edge  2 . This rotation permits depiction of the ES  610  and other layers to the right side of edge  2  in the same view as the layout to the left side of the edge  2 . Thus, to the right side of edge  2 , the cross-section is taken along line C-C shown in  FIG. 5A . 
       FIG. 6F  shows a sample cross-sectional view of a first passivation deposition, an organic insulator deposition, and a common electrode deposition following the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6D . As shown, a first passivation layer  620  may be disposed over the source and drain regions  618 A-B and the ES  610 . Then, an organic insulator  622  may be disposed over the first passivation layer  620 . A fifth mask (not shown) may be used to form a via hole  628  above the first passivation layer  620  by etching or lithography to remove the material in the via hole  628 . A common electrode layer  624  may be deposited over the organic insulator  622 . A sixth mask (not shown) may be used to form the patterned common electrode  624  by etching to remove a portion of the electrode layer as predetermined by the mask. This common electrode  624  has a similar function to the common electrode  154  shown in  FIG. 1B . 
       FIG. 6G  shows an example cross-sectional view of a second passivation deposition and a pixel electrode deposition following the operation illustrated in  FIG. 6F . A second passivation layer  632  may be disposed over the common electrode  624  and the organic insulator  622 . A seventh mask (not shown) may be used to form a via hole  630  through the second passivation layer  632 , similar to forming the via hole  628 . A pixel electrode layer is then deposited over the second passivation layer and the via hole  630 . An eighth mask (not shown) may be used to form a patterned pixel electrode  626 , similar to forming the common electrode  624 . This pixel electrode  626  has similar function to the pixel electrode  160  as shown in  FIG. 1B . 
     The first passivation layer  620  may be formed of an insulator such as silicon oxide (SiO2), among others. The second passivation layer  632  may also be formed of an insulator, such silicon nitride (SiNx) among others. The common electrode  624  and the pixel electrode  626  may be formed of a transparent conductor, such as indium-tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO) and others. The organic insulator may include photo inactive or photo active polymer. Furthermore, the photoactive compound (PAC) may be positive tone or negative tone material. The polymer bases may be acrylate, cyclic olefine polymer, and/or siloxane, among others. The IGZO  616  has a relatively high mobility and is optically transparent. The IGZO  616  may also be formed by a reactive sputtering method or a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method, and the like. The gate insulator  516  may be formed of an inorganic insulator film including silicon oxide (SiO 2 ), silicon nitride (SiN x ), a dielectric oxide film such as aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), or an organic material, and the like. The gate insulator  516  may be formed by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system or formed by a physical vapor method using a sputtering system. Other deposition processes may also or alternatively be used. 
     The gate insulator  516  may include multiple layers of the above materials. For example, the gate insulator  516  may include one or more insulation layers. In a particular embodiment, the gate insulator  516  may have a two-layer structure. A silicon nitride layer may be formed as a first insulating layer and a silicon oxide layer may be formed as a second insulating layer. This gate insulator  516  may prevent an impurity such as moisture or alkali metal or copper contamination from diffusing into a TFT element and a display device and may also improve reliability of a semiconductor element formed in an element formation layer, or the like. 
     The TFT with a semiconductor extension or an IGZO extension may be used for a conventional liquid crystal display, any other liquid crystal displays which may vary in color filter/liquid crystal layout or configuration, or organic light-emitting display (OLED). The TFT may be used for a touch screen display that includes a touch panel with the liquid crystal display. 
     Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Additionally, a number of well-known processes and elements have not been described in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the presently disclosed embodiments teach by way of example and not by limitation. Therefore, the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings should be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The following claims are intended to cover all generic and specific features described herein, as well as all statements of the scope of the present method and system, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20140902
Publication Date: 20150324
Grant Date: 20150324
Priority Date: 20120810
Inventors: HUNG MING-CHIN
KIM KYUNG WOOK
PARK YOUNG BAE
CHIU HAO-LIN
HUANG CHUN-YAO
CHANG SHIH CHANG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H10D86/423", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D86/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D64/514", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D30/6755", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D30/673", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D30/67", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D86/423", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D86/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D30/031", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10D30/6755", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L29/42364", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L29/786", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L29/66742", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L29/7869", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L29/42384", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L27/1225", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 50065521