Effect of uniaxial tensile strain on electrical performance of amorphous IGZO TFTs and circuits on flexible Metal foils

Abstract

Inexpensive and light-weight flexible displays and sensor electronics would be more rugged and portable than the more conventional rigid substrate-based electronics. Till date, large area flexible systems are enabled by a-Si:H or organics which suffer from low mobilities that limit their use in driver electronics that require higher current drive. This is where oxide-semiconductor (amorphous Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide, IGZO in particular) based thin-film transistors (TFTs) provide an attractive alternative to silicon-based TFTs. Therefore, one needs to study the interdependence of mechanical flexing and electrical performance of these devices as they find applications in flexible large area based electronics. This study systematically investigates the influence of tensile strain on IGZO TFTs and ring oscillators fabricated on flexible stainless steel substrates.