Patent Application
20100059820
This invention relates to a semiconductor device, particularly a thin-film transistor (TFT), and further relates to a manufacturing method thereof.
Generally, a display device, such as a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device, or an inorganic EL device is fabricated by forming films and patterning the films into conductive patterns such as a wiring pattern and an electrode pattern in sequence on a transparent substrate having a flat main surface. Then, by forming and patterning an electrode film, various films necessary for elements that constitute the display device, and so on in sequence, the display device is manufactured.
In recent years, there is a growing demand for an increase in size with respect to this type of display device. In order to form a large-size display device, it is necessary to form more display elements on a substrate with high accuracy and to electrically connect these elements to a wiring pattern. In this case, insulating films, TFT (thin-film transistor) elements, light emitting elements, and so on are formed, in addition to the wiring pattern, on the substrate in a multilayered state. As a result, level differences are normally formed on the substrate in a stepwise fashion and the wiring pattern is arranged across these level differences. Further, when increasing the size of the display device, since the wiring pattern itself becomes longer, it is necessary to reduce the resistance of the wiring pattern.
As a technique for solving the level differences of the wiring pattern and reducing the resistance thereof, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 each disclose that, in order to form wiring for a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display, a wiring pattern is formed on the surface of a transparent substrate and a transparent insulating material having a height equal to that of the wiring pattern is formed in contact with the wiring pattern. Further, in Patent Document 2, there is disclosed a method of more flattening the wiring by heat press or CMP.
Patent Document 3 proposes forming a gate electrode comprising an adhesive underlayer, a catalyst layer, a conductive metal layer, and a diffusion suppressing layer formed thereon. This proposal makes it possible to improve the adhesion to a glass substrate and the flatness of the gate electrode.
Patent Document 1 discloses that the characteristics of a display device can be improved by embedding wiring in a groove formed by a resin pattern to provide the thick-film wiring, and further discloses techniques such as an inkjet method and a screen printing method as wiring forming methods. However, it has been found out that the disclosed methods have a problem in adhesion to the substrate. Further, it has also been found out that if the wiring is formed by a conductive ink, screen printing, or the like as described in Patent Document 1, the surface of the wiring becomes rough so that the flatness of an insulating layer or the like formed on the wiring is degraded. When the wiring formed by the conductive ink or the screen printing is used as a gate electrode, there has been observed a phenomenon in which the propagation ratio of carriers passing through a channel is degraded due to the roughness of the wiring surface. This makes the high-speed operation difficult. Further, it has also been found that, using the conductive ink, the screen printing, or the like, when the wiring is fine, it is difficult to obtain a desired shape. For example, it has been found that even if an attempt is made to form a gate electrode with a width of 20 μm and a length of 50 μm using such a method, an electrode material does not spread over the entire surface and thus it is practically impossible to form a desired pattern.
As a method of solving the problem of the roughness of the wiring surface, Patent Document 2 proposes a process of performing heat press treatment or CMP treatment that presses an insulating film and embedded wiring by the use of a press member. However, with an increase in size of mother glass substrates in recent years, those wiring flattening methods have become impractical particularly in the case of fifth-generation glass substrates having sizes of 1100 mm×1300 mm or more. In the heat press treatment, even a slight strain of glass leads to breakage thereof, while, it is very difficult to uniformly polish the entire surface of a large-size glass substrate by the CMP, which leads to an increase in cost.
Further, there has also been observed a phenomenon in which a gap is formed between a plated layer and a surrounding resin film. This might be based on the fact that the resin expands due to high temperatures in plating treatment and then shrinks after plating formation. Such a gap results in local concentration of an electric field on a gate insulating film and brings about dielectric breakdown. As a result, a gate electrode and a channel region are shorted to each other.
Further, in order to enhance the adhesion, Patent Document 3 proposes a manufacturing method which comprises at least a process of decorating or modifying the surface of an insulating substrate, a process of forming a resin film on the insulating substrate, a process of patterning the resin film to form a recess for receiving therein an electrode or wiring, a process of applying a catalyst to the recess, a process of heat-curing the resin film, and a process of forming a conductive material in the recess by a plating method. A conductive metal layer, for example, a Cu layer, of a gate electrode or the like is formed by an electroless plating method and, thereon, as a Cu-diffusion suppressing layer, a W layer is formed by a selective CVD method or a Ni layer is formed by the electroless plating method, thereby forming the gate electrode.
According to this method, the adhesion of the gate electrode to the substrate is improved and, further, even in the case of a gate electrode with a width of 20 μm and a length of 50 μm, it is possible to form a desired pattern regardless of the size. However, it has been found that, even with this method, the surface of the gate electrode is rough so that the flatness of a gate insulating layer formed on the gate electrode is poor. For example, it has been found that the flatness of the surface of the Cu layer formed by electroless plating reaches even 17.74 nm in Ra and the flatness of the surface of the Ni layer formed thereon also reaches as high as 8.58 nm in Ra, and because of this surface roughness, the surface of silicon nitride formed as a gate insulating film by CVD, i.e. the interface with a channel region of a semiconductor layer, is also rough and thus the carrier mobility is degraded due to surface scattering.
It is an object of this invention to provide a thin-film transistor (TFT) excellent in flatness of a gate insulating film and a manufacturing method thereof.
It is another object of this invention to provide a thin-film transistor having a gate insulating film with excellent interface flatness and high transparency and a manufacturing method thereof.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a coating agent that can form a gate insulating film excellent in transparency and flatness.
Hereinbelow, configurations of this invention will be enumerated.
According to a first aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device which comprises a transparent base, a transparent insulator film A provided on a main surface of said transparent base and formed with a groove reaching said main surface, a gate electrode formed in said groove so that a surface of said gate electrode and a surface of said transparent insulator film A are substantially flush with each other, and a semiconductor layer provided over said gate electrode through a gate insulating film, wherein said gate insulating film comprises at least two layers and wherein at least one layer of said gate insulating film is a transparent insulator film B which has a main skeleton of repeating MO units and which has a composition comprising one kind or two or more kinds of oxides each represented by RxMOy [where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and y satisfies the following formula: (m−x)/2<y<m−x−0.5 (m represents a valence of M)].
According to a second aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device which comprises a transparent base, a transparent insulator film A provided on a main surface of said transparent base and formed with a groove reaching said main surface, a gate electrode formed in said groove so that a surface of said gate electrode and a surface of said transparent insulator film A are substantially flush with each other, and a semiconductor layer provided over said gate electrode through a gate insulating film, wherein said gate insulating film comprises at least two layers and wherein at least one layer of said gate insulating film is a transparent insulator film B formed by heating in a temperature range of 150 to 300° C. and having a turbidity (Hz) of 3% or less and a transmittance (Tt) of 80% or more.
According to a third aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device according to the first or the second aspect, wherein said transparent insulator film B is a transparent insulator coating film formed by coating a coating solution.
According to a fourth aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device according to any of the first through the third aspects, wherein said transparent insulator film B has a surface roughness (Ra) of 5 nm or less.
According to a fifth aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device according to any of the first through the fourth aspects, wherein said transparent insulator film B satisfies a relationship of 280>d/ε where a thickness thereof is given by d(Å) and a relative permittivity thereof is given by ε.
According to a sixth aspect of this invention, there is provided a coating agent for forming the transparent insulator film B according to any of the third to the fifth aspects, which further comprises one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds of mixed solutions each obtained by dissolving or dispersing, in an organic solvent, water, or a mixed solvent thereof, a condensate obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation reaction of a compound represented by RxMXm-x (where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, X represents a hydrolyzable substituent, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and m represents a valence of M).
According to a seventh aspect of this invention, there is provided a coating agent for forming the transparent insulator film B according to any of the third to the fifth aspects, which is formed by dissolving or dispersing, in an organic solvent, water, or a mixed solvent thereof, a condensate obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation reaction of one kind or two or more kinds of compounds each represented by RxMXm-x (where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, X represents a hydrolyzable substituent, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and m represents a valence of M).
According to an eighth aspect of this invention, there is provided a coating agent according to the sixth or the seventh aspect, wherein said hydrolyzable substituent X is an alkoxyl group.
According to a ninth aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device according to any of the first through the fifth aspects, wherein said gate insulating film further comprises an insulator film C formed by CVD and having a relative permittivity of 4 or more.
According to a tenth aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device according to the ninth aspect, wherein said insulator film C is transparent and extends over said transparent insulator film B.
According to an eleventh aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising forming a transparent insulator film A on a surface of a transparent base; forming a groove, reaching said transparent base, by selectively removing part of said transparent insulator film A; forming, in said groove, a gate electrode reaching the surface of said transparent base; coating, on a surface of said transparent insulator film A including a surface of said gate electrode, either a coating agent comprising one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds of mixed solutions each obtained by dissolving or dispersing, in an organic solvent, water, or a mixed solvent thereof, a condensate obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation reaction of a compound represented by RxMXm-x (where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, X represents a hydrolyzable substituent, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and m represents a valence of M) or a coating agent which is obtained by dissolving or dispersing, in an organic solvent, water, or a mixed solvent thereof, a condensate obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation reaction of one kind or two or more kinds of compounds each represented by RxMXm-x (where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, X represents a hydrolyzable substituent, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and m represents a valence of M); heating a coating film obtained in said coating; and forming a semiconductor film over a transparent insulator film B thus obtained.
According to a twelfth aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method according to the eleventh aspect, wherein said hydrolyzable substituent X is an alkoxyl group.
According to a thirteenth aspect of this invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method according to the eleventh or the twelfth aspect, further comprising, between said coating film heating and said semiconductor film forming, forming a transparent insulator film C having a relative permittivity of 4 or more by CVD so as to cover said transparent insulator film B.
According to this invention, an insulator coating film is provided on a gate electrode having a rough surface so as to have a surface flatness of 5 nm or less in Ra, thereby forming a gate insulating film having high transparency and optically and electrically excellent properties, so that it is possible to provide the gate insulating film that prevents interface scattering of carriers because of its interface with a channel region being flat and thus achieves high carrier mobility and that maintains excellent optical and electrical properties at a portion other than at the gate electrode. Further, according to this invention, there is obtained a coating agent excellent in transparency and flatness and suitable for forming the gate insulating film.
An embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the figures.
As described in this embodiment, the gate insulating film 13 is preferably formed by the two layers, i.e. the transparent insulator film B131 and the insulator film C132. Further, in terms of satisfactorily exhibiting the desired effect of this invention, the transparent insulator film B131 is preferably formed on the surface of the transparent insulator film A11, including the surface of the gate electrode 12.
As is also clear from
In this invention, the insulator coating film having a thickness of 40 nm or more is formed as the transparent insulator film B131 on the conductive-metal diffusion suppressing layer 124 and this film buries a gap 112 between the gate electrode 12 and the resin film 11 and provides a flat surface of 5 nm or less in Ra which is not influenced by the irregularities of the surface of the gate electrode 12. As a result, it is possible to obtain the surface flatness of the silicon nitride dielectric film (insulator film C) 132 with a thickness of 150 to 160 nm formed by CVD on the transparent insulator film B131 being the insulator coating film (overcoat film). Consequently, it is possible to form the thin-film transistor (TFT) without an influence of irregularities which might result from the gate electrode, in the semiconductor layer formed on the gate insulating film 13. Thus, the mobility can be considerably improved.
It should be noted that the transparent insulator film B131 being the insulator coating film (overcoat film) is formed using the following coating agent instead of conventionally known SOG (spin-on glass).
1. Kind of Solvent:
Use can be made of organic solvents such as alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, propyl alcohol, and cyclohexanol, glycols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol and derivatives thereof, ketones such as acetone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and cyclohexanone, and further, toluene, xylene, ethers, and aliphatic hydrocarbons, water, and the like. These may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds.
2. Kind of Material and Ratio Range:
As the coating agent, use is made of a coating agent composed of one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds of mixed solutions each obtained by dissolving or dispersing, in the above solvent, a condensate obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation reaction of a compound represented by RxMXm-x (where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, X represents a hydrolyzable substituent, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and m represents the valence of M), or a coating agent obtained by dissolving or dispersing, in the above solvent, a condensate obtained by a hydrolysis-condensation reaction of one kind or two or more kinds of compounds each represented by RxMXm-x described above.
In the above compound represented by RxMXm-x, the non-hydrolyzable substituent R is an alkyl group, an alkyl group having a (meth)acryloyloxy group or an epoxy group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, or an aralkyl group. Specifically, as the non-hydrolyzable substituent, there can be cited, for example, methyl group, ethyl group, n-propyl group, isopropyl group, n-butyl group, isobutyl group, sec-butyl group, tert-butyl group, pentyl group, hexyl group, octyl group, cyclopentyl group, cyclohexyl group, γ-acryloyloxypropyl group, γ-methacryloyloxypropyl group, γ-glycidoxypropyl group, 3,4-epoxycyclohexyl group, vinyl group, allyl group, butenyl group, hexenyl group, octenyl group, phenyl group, tolyl group, xylyl group, naphthyl group, benzyl group, phenethyl group, phenylpropyl group, naphthylmethyl group, and the like. In terms of heat resistance, adhesion, cost, flattening property, and so on, the methyl group, the ethyl group, or the phenyl group is preferable.
The hydrolyzable substituent X is a halogen atom, an alkoxyl group, hydrogen, an isocyanate group, a silazane group, a coordination substituent, or the like. Specifically, as the hydrolyzable substituent, there can be cited, for example, chlorine atom, methoxy group, ethoxy group, n-propoxy group, isopropoxy group, n-butoxy group, isobutoxy group, sec-butoxy group, tert-butoxy group, pentoxy group, hexoxy group, cyclopentoxy group, cyclohexoxy group, acetylacetonate group, and the like. In terms of ease of reaction control and cost, the methoxy group, the ethoxy group, the propoxy group, or the butoxy group is preferable. M is preferably Si, Ti, or Al and X is preferably 0 to 2.
As the above compound represented by RxMXm-x, there can be cited, for example, methyltrimethoxysilane, methyltriethoxysilane, methyltripropoxysilane, methyltriisopropoxysilane, ethyltrimethoxysilane, ethyltriethoxysilane, propyltriethoxysilane, butyltrimethoxysilane, phenyltrimethoxysilane, phenyltriethoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, methylphenyldimethoxysilane, methyltrichlorosilane, ethyltrichlorosilane, dimethyldichlorosilane, tetramethoxysilane, tetraethoxysilane, tetra-n-propoxysilane, tetraisopropoxysilane, tetra-n-butoxysilane, tetraisobutoxysilane, tetra-sec-butoxysilane, tetra-tert-butoxysilane, tetrachlorosilane, and the like, and further, corresponding thereto, tetraalkoxytitanium, trialkoxytitanium, dialkoxytitanium, trimethoxyaluminum, triethoxyaluminum, tri-n-propoxyaluminum, triisopropoxyaluminum, tri-n-butoxyaluminum, triisobutoxyaluminum, tri-sec-butoxyaluminum, tri-tert-butoxyaluminum, and the like. In terms of ease of reaction, cost, adhesion, and flattening property, the methyltrimethoxysilane, the methyltriethoxysilane, the methyltripropoxysilane, the methyltriisopropoxysilane, the ethyltrimethoxysilane, the ethyltriethoxysilane, the phenyltrimethoxysilane, the dimethyldimethoxysilane, the tetramethoxysilane, the tetraethoxysilane, or the like, or the tetraalkoxytitanium corresponding thereto is preferable. Among them, it is preferable to use a mixture of condensates of the methyltrimethoxysilane and the tetraethoxysilane. The content ratio of both condensates is preferably 1/9 to 8/2 in mole ratio (former/latter).
The hydrolysis-condensation reaction of the above compound represented by RxMXm-x can be carried out by, for example, using an acid or a base as a catalyst, adding water, maintaining at a temperature of 0 to 80° C. in a predetermined solvent, and agitating for about 1 to 24 hours by the use of a reactor with an agitator.
The content of the above condensate in the coating agent is not particularly limited, but is normally 0.5 to 25 wt %. Although the optimal value differs depending on a coating method or film thickness setting, it is preferably 1 to 10 wt % in terms of time-dependent changes of the coating agent.
3. Other Components:
A leveling agent, a viscosity adjusting agent, or the like may be added.
The above coating agent is coated on the surface including the gate electrode 12 and the transparent insulator film A11 being the transparent resin film and then heated. As a result, the transparent insulator film B131 is formed as the insulator coating film (overcoat film) on the gate electrode 12 and the transparent insulator film A11.
In this case, the components (composition) and properties of the substance forming the transparent insulator film B131 being the insulator coating film (overcoat film) are as follows.
(1) Component:
Repeating MO units form the main skeleton and the composition thereof is composed of one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds of oxides each represented by RxMOy [where R represents a non-hydrolyzable substituent, M represents one element selected from a group consisting of Si, Ti, Al, Zr, Zn, Sn, and In, x represents an integer of 0 to 3, and y satisfies the following formula: (m−x)/2<y<m−x−0.5 (m represents the valence of M)]. R is the same as aforementioned and preferred modes of R, M, and x are also the same as aforementioned.
(2) Feature of Thin Film:
280>d/ε (d: thickness (Å) of the thin film, ε: relative permittivity of the thin film). Normally, the lower limit of d/ε is 40.
The surface roughness is 5 nm or less in Ra.
The insulator coating film, when the above coating agent is coated and then heated at an arbitrary temperature of 150 to 300° C., exhibits Hz (turbidity)<3% and Tt (transmittance)>80% and thus has sufficient transparency as the gate insulating film 13 of the thin-film transistor.
The above relative permittivity can be measured by CVmap92 manufactured by Four Dimensions, Inc., the above surface roughness Ra can be measured by an AFM (SPA400 manufactured by Seiko Instruments, Inc.), and the above turbidity and transmittance can be measured by a turbidimeter (“NDH2000 (measurement method 2)” manufactured by Nippon Denshoku Industries Co., Ltd.).
After forming the transparent insulator film B131, the silicon nitride dielectric film is formed as the insulator film C132 on the surface of the transparent insulator film B131 by CVD.
Herein, as the thickness of the gate insulating film 13 comprising the transparent insulator film 131 as the insulator coating film and the insulator film C132 as the CVD dielectric film thereon, if it is too large, the driving capability of the transistor decreases and the gate capacitance increases to cause signal delay, and therefore, it is preferably about 350 to 360 nm or less in the case of a silicon nitride film and 200 nm or less in EOT (equivalent silicon dioxide thickness obtained by the product of the thickness of a film and the quotient of the permittivity of silicon dioxide divided by the average permittivity of the film).
If the thickness of the gate insulating film 13 is too small, the leakage current increases, and since a maximum voltage of 15V is applied between gate and source of a TFT in a normal LCD, the withstand voltage is preferably 15V or more, and therefore, the thickness of the gate insulating film 13 is preferably 95 nm or more in EOT.
On the other hand, with respect to the thickness of the insulator coating film (i.e. the transparent insulator film B) 131 forming the gate insulating film 13, the physical thickness thereof is required to be 40 nm at minimum (when the surface roughness of an underlayer is about 30 nm in P-V) for obtaining a flat surface regardless of the roughness of the underlayer. The permittivity of this film is optional, but taking into account that the permittivity is about 10 at maximum, the thickness of this film is preferably set to 15 nm or more in equivalent silicon dioxide thickness (EOT). In the case of the composite gate insulating film 13, the maximum thickness is preferably about 120 nm or less. When calculating d/ε, the thickness of the transparent insulator film B131 is used by converting it into Å.
The thickness of the CVD dielectric film (insulator film C) 132 is preferably 80 nm or more in EOT, taking into account that this film is mainly responsible for the withstand voltage. The upper limit thereof is preferably 200 nm−15 nm=185 nm.
Next, a method of forming a thin-film transistor according to an Example of this invention described above will be described with reference to the figures.
Then, the glass substrate 10 was treated with a silane coupling agent solution in which aminopropylethoxysilane being a silane coupling agent was dissolved at a concentration of 0.1 vol % in an aqueous solution whose pH was controlled at 10 by adding pure water to sodium hydroxide, i.e. immersed in the silane coupling agent solution at room temperature for 30 minutes, thereby adsorbing the silane coupling agent on the surface of the glass substrate. Thereafter, treatment was carried out on a hot plate at 110° C. for 60 minutes to chemically bond the silane coupling agent to the surface of the glass substrate, thereby forming an adhesive underlayer (thickness 10 nm) 121. By forming the adhesive underlayer 121 in this manner, it is possible to form a structure in which amino groups are substantially arranged on the substrate surface and metal complexes are easily coordinated thereto. Since the silane coupling agent is normally transparent, even if it is formed over the entire surface of the glass substrate, it is possible to obtain the effect of this invention, and further, the silane coupling agent is preferable in terms of obtaining the adhesion between the glass substrate and a transparent photosensitive resin to be used in a subsequent process.
After forming the adhesive underlayer 121, a positive photoresist solution was coated on the surface of the adhesive underlayer by the use of a spinner and then heating was carried out on a hot plate at 100° C. for 120 seconds for prebaking treatment, thereby forming a photosensitive transparent resin film having a thickness of 2 μm as a transparent resin film A11. As the above positive photoresist, use was made of a positive photoresist containing an alkali-soluble alicyclic olefin-based resin described in JP-A-2002-296780. As an organic material forming the transparent resin film A11, use can be made of a transparent resin selected from the group consisting of an acrylic-based resin, a silicone-based resin, a fluorine-based resin, a polyimide-based resin, a polyolefin-based resin, an alicyclic olefin-based resin, and an epoxy-based resin. In terms of facilitating subsequent processes, the transparent resin film A11 is preferably formed using, particularly, a photosensitive transparent resin composition as described in detail in JP-A-2001-188343 or JP-A-2002-296780.
Referring to
Then, this was immersed in a palladium chloride-hydrochloric acid aqueous solution (palladium chloride 0.005 vol %, hydrochloric acid 0.01 vol %) at room temperature for 3 minutes, treated with a reducing agent (Reducer MAB-2 manufactured by C. Uyemura & Co., Ltd.), and washed with water, thereby selectively providing a palladium catalyst layer (thickness 10 to 50 nm) 122 in the formed groove.
Referring to
Then, referring to
The illustrated insulator coating film 131 was formed using the following coating agent. That is, methyltrimethoxysilane (71.0 g), tetraethoxysilane (52.0 g), IPA (isopropyl alcohol; 97.1 g), 0.1 N nitric acid (9.6 g), and water (82.7 g) were mixed in this order and then subjected to a hydrolysis-condensation reaction for 24 hours. A reacted solution thus obtained was diluted with a mixed solvent of methyl isobutyl ketone (437.0 g) and propylene glycol monomethylether (250.5 g), thereby obtaining a coating agent. This coating agent was coated and an obtained coating film was heat-treated at 300° C. for 1 hour, thereby obtaining the insulator coating film 131.
The illustrated insulator coating film 131 was composed of a complex of polymethylsilsesquioxane (i.e. CH3SiO1.5) and silica (SiO2) and had a thickness of 60 nm. The relative permittivity was measured to be ε=2.5. Therefore, d/ε was 240. As a result of evaluating the transparency, Hz was 0.09% and Tt was 92.61%. Further, the surface roughness was measured by an AFM and Ra=4.5 nm.
Then, a Si3N4 film was grown by CVD using a microwave-excited RLSA plasma processing apparatus to form an insulator film C132, thereby forming a gate insulating film 13 comprising the transparent insulator film B131 and the insulator film C132.
Herein, taking into account that the relative permittivity of a SiO2 film having normally been used as a gate insulating film in the semiconductor industry is 3.9, the relative permittivity of the insulator film C132 is preferably 4 or more and more preferably 7 or more. The upper limit of the relative permittivity is normally about 7.5. Further, the insulator film C is preferably substantially transparent. There is no particular limitation to a material of the insulator film C that can satisfy those properties, but normally, a Si3N4 film is suitably used.
Then, as shown in
Referring to
In the above embodiment, the description has been made only about the liquid crystal display device. However, this invention is applicable to various substrates forming flat display panels.
Further, the material forming the gate electrode may be silver or a transparent oxide conductor (ITO or the like) instead of copper.
This invention is applied to display devices such as a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device, and an inorganic EL device and capable of increasing the size of those display devices, and is also applicable to wiring of other than the display devices.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-344404 | Dec 2006 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2007/074451 | 12/19/2007 | WO | 00 | 6/19/2009 |
