Enhancement of performance and reliability of amorphous silicon high voltage thin film transistors by use of field plates

An enhancement to the amorphous silicon (a-Si) high-voltage thin-film transistor (HVTFT) is described. With the addition of a field plate over a portion of the device, stability is enhanced. Weak accumulation of a-Si prevents the formation of additional metastable electronic defects that cause changes in I/sub D/ vs. V/sub D/. The effects of structural variations are described, and the improved stability is demonstrated. >