The influence of twin boundaries on the characteristics of single grain-Si thin film transistors was analyzed by 3-dimensional simulation. The simulations showed that the orientation and the location of a twin boundary could affect the field-effect mobility and the leakage current of a device. The field-effect mobility increased with the increase of the angle between the normal direction of the twin boundary and the channel direction. A single twin boundary in contact with the drain could lead to higher leakage current because electron-hole generation was greatly enhanced by the trap states in the twin boundary.

Simulation of Twin Boundary Effect on Characteristics of Single Grain-Silicon Thin Film Transistors. F.Yan, P.Migliorato, R.Ishihara: Applied Physics Letters, 2007, 91[7], 073509