This article describes the electrical and physical properties of polysilicon
doped with novel N+ and P+ screen printed inks using a
thermally activated process. Unique ink formulations for N and P type doping of
silicon are evaluated in volume production in order to enable a low cost, high
throughput process. Inks can be used with multiple substrate types and form
factors. The concentrated doping source combined with thermal drive in and
activation results in degenerately doped layers of polysilicon. Inks are
semiconductor grade which is demonstrated by their use in fabricating high
mobility, low leakage Thin Film Transistor (TFT) devices on 300 mm stainless
steel substrates. Reproducible sheet resistance values (700 A polysilicon) can
be engineered from levels typically ranging from 200 - 2000 ohm/sq. The additive
approach substitutes the use of high capital cost ion implantation and
lithography processes. The ink formulation results in screen printed widths
capable of ranging from 100-300 um. As both N and P type layers can be printed
adjacent to each other, it is critical to prevent cross doping using surface
preparation techniques. Post doping cleaning of surfaces can be achieved in-situ
or by plasma removal depending on process integration and product
considerations. Reproducibility and uniformity data to demonstrate
manufacturability in a production environment is shown. In summary, a simple,
low cost, high throughput additive process based on proprietary inks that can be
used in multiple product flows (CMOS TFT, Solar etc.) is demonstrated.