a-Si:H thin film transistors after very high strain

We fabricate amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistors (TFTs) on a 25 mu m Kapton foil, and then bend the foil over mandrels of various radii. The bending causes tensile strain in the TFTs when they face out, and compressive strain when they face in, After bending, we measure the electrical properties of the TFTs. After similar to 2% of compressive strain, there is no change in the TFT electrical performance due to bending, namely in the on-current, off-current, source-gate leakage current, mobility and the threshold voltage. Ln tension, no change in the TFT performance is observed up to the strain of similar to 0.5%. For larger tensile strains TFTs fail mechanically by cracking of the TFT layers. These cracks run perpendicularly to the bending direction. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.