EVALUATION OF AL(ND)-ALLOY FILMS FOR APPLICATION TO THIN-FILM-TRANSISTOR LIQUID-CRYSTAL DISPLAYS

Higher-resolution, larger-diagonal active-matrix liquid crystal displa ys (AMLCDs) will require the use of low-resistivity gate metal such as aluminum transition-metal alloys. AI(Nd greater than or equal to 3 wt .%) alloy films are adequate for AMLCD fabrication because of their lo w resistivity and their tendency not to form hillocks during thermal p rocessing. The use of both optical light scattering and nanoindentatio n for the rapid evaluation of hillock formation has been demonstrated, along with the use of ramped resistance measurements for observing th e process of discontinuous precipitation (the combination of Al grain growth and AI-Nd compound precipitation). AI(Nd) films were further ch aracterized by TEM and AFM to confirm the effect of their finely dispe rsed AI-Nd compound precipitates on decreased grain size and decreased hillock formation.