Technology
TCZ's Thin Beam LTPS Processing Technology
Accelerating the FPD Market
Flat panel displays of the future will need to be brighter, with richer more vivid colors, have faster video capability, provide added functionality such as touch screen and scanning capability, wider viewing angles, work equally well in sunlight and be more durable, all at a lower cost. To meet these growing market demands and advance the volume-production capabilities of displays, TCZ developed the patented Thin Beam LTPS (low temperature poly silicon) Processing Technology — an innovative production technology for fabricating flat panel displays.
Utilizing proprietary laser technology from Cymer Inc. and the complex optics expertise of Carl Zeiss SMT AG, Thin Beam LTPS Processing improves throughput and reduces the cost of laser crystallization for LTPS display manufacturers.
Leveraging the superior screen brightness, increased resolution and low power consumption offered by Poly-Silicon, Thin Beam LTPS Processing is a superior and more flexible alternative to fabrication techniques such as Excimer Laser Annealing (ELA) and Sequential Lateral Solidification (SLS). Thin Beam LTPS Processing offers a combination of immediate and long-term benefits to display makers, such as:
- Market leading productivity by increased throughput and uptime as a result of advanced process economics, high available laser power, and superior system stability and control
- Increased panel yield since the tool exposes the entire width of the substrate (up to 730mm) in a single pass with a thin (~5 microns) beam, thereby avoiding stitching
- Flexibility to produce LTPS materials of different micro structure utilizing complementary operational modes, including
- Amortized equipment cost as Thin Beam LTPS Processing provides the flexibility to support active matrix liquid crystal AMLCD, SOG (System-on-Glass), and next generation OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) display applications
- Planar surface topology (free of large ELA- or SLS type vertical protrusions) that enables gate oxide scaling, further reducing the cost of panel manufacturing
- Reduced panel cost and increased panel robustness by accelerating large scale SOG integration of drive electronics directly into the poly silicon coating
- Higher picture resolution and lower panel power consumption, enabled by smaller TFT switches with lower threshold voltages
Using Cymer Inc.’s high power laser technology and Carl Zeiss SMT AG’s optics expertise, Thin Beam LTPS Processing provides an optimal combination of pulse frequency and pulse energy, enabling high scan rates and a very long, thin beam. Entire Gen4 substrates can be processed in as little as 100 seconds or less.
Please also see TCZ's Thin Beam LTPS Processing