title: All-inkjet-printed thin-film transistors: manufacturing process reliability by root cause analysis.
abstract: We report on the detailed electrical investigation of all-inkjet-printed thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays focusing on TFT failures and their origins. The TFT arrays were manufactured on flexible polymer substrates in ambient condition without the need for cleanroom environment or inert atmosphere and at a maximum temperature of 150 °C. Alternative manufacturing processes for electronic devices such as inkjet printing suffer from lower accuracy compared to traditional microelectronic manufacturing methods. Furthermore, usually printing methods do not allow the manufacturing of electronic devices with high yield (high number of functional devices). In general, the manufacturing yield is much lower compared to the established conventional manufacturing methods based on lithography. Thus, the focus of this contribution is set on a comprehensive analysis of defective TFTs printed by inkjet technology. Based on root cause analysis, we present the defects by developing failure categories and discuss the reasons for the defects. This procedure identifies failure origins and allows the optimization of the manufacturing resulting finally to a yield improvement.
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Chemnitz (TUC), Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sowade
authors.affiliation: Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Eloi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ramon
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Chemnitz (TUC), Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Kalyan Yoti
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.affiliation: Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez-Domingo
authors.affiliation: Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pedró
authors.affiliation: Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Jofre
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pallarès
authors.affiliation: Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Portici Research Center, 80055 Portici (Naples), Italy.
authors.forename: Fausta
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Loffredo
authors.affiliation: Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Portici Research Center, 80055 Portici (Naples), Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Villani
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Algarve, FCT, Campus de Gambelas, 8000-139 Faro, Portugal.|Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), Organic Electronics-Lx, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Henrique L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Lluís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Terés
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Chemnitz (TUC), Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany.|Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nanosystems (ENAS), Department of Printed Functionalities, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Baumann