1. Amorphous Silicon TFT LCD Displays Jonathan Brownstein EECS 277A

2. Components of The LCD 1.Backlight 2.Polarizer 3.TFT Active Matrix on Glass 4.Liquid Crystal Material 5.Glass with Color Filter 6.Polarizer 7.Surface of Display

3. Backlight CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) - Apply enough voltage for little heat Shines light through LCD LCD based on allowing light through

4. Polarizers Polarizers allow only properly oriented light through

5. TFT Thin Film Transistors Put onto glass Common substrate is glass Common semiconductor layer is amorphous Si - Bonds to glass - Roll to roll processing

6. Fabrication of TFT - Amorphous Si on Glass - Cleaning - Photoresist Coating - Exposure to light - Remove all photoresist except the mask - Expose to plasma - Wet etch gets rid of excess Si - Take away remaining photoresist - Left with layer you want on glass

7. Placement in LCD Protective coating Pixel Electrode Placed on corner Put into array Gate electrode Data Bus

8. Active Matrix Addressing scheme TFT set in an active matrix Maintains pixel state Black matrix surrounding pixel elements Prevents cross-talk - Creates higher contrast - Only desired pixel receives a charge Pixel acts as a capacitor to hold the charge until the next refresh cycle

9. Equivalent Circuit Data bus line - Determines intensity Capacitors - Storage capacitance part of gate bus line - Stores voltage to activate liquid crystal cells - Larger aperture ratio - Reduces switching time

10. Liquid Crystals Relaxed phase is twisted - Orients light so it passes through Matrix element is selected - LC untwists and does not reorient light LC loses transparency as voltage increase Loses transparency with increasing voltage

11. Color Filter RGB filter for each pixel Design varies - Stripe is more common Filter blocks wavelengths except ones in range of that pixel Polarizer sharpens color

12. Overview

13. Summary TFT LCDs represent the cutting edge in flat- panel-display technology Best technology yet developed for Active-matrix displays Improvements being made: - Lighter - Smaller - Faster - Consuming less power

14. Thank You