Silicon Flat Panel Displays

SPIRE最近展示了硅量子线发出的明亮的可见光。对硅衬底进行了电化学刻蚀，得到了具有纳米尺寸硅柱(量子线)的多孔表面。当用蓝色激光束或紫外光(光致发光)激发时，或当在电场下浸泡在H2O：NaCl电解液中时，处理后的样品发出非常明亮的红光。此外，我们还证明了通过阳极氧化例如Si1-xGex或离子注入的Si(例如，Er+注入硅)。如果这种材料可以表现出很强的电致发光，那么平板的驱动电子和发光元件显示器可以集成到相同的硅衬底上。这一发展将显著减少显示面板制造步骤和成本。我们认为，这些最新的发现，结合成熟的硅电子技术，为商用平板显示技术的重大进步提供了难得的机会。我们提出了一个研究单色或多色硅平板显示器制造的方案。在第一阶段，我们将优化硅量子线的加工工艺，并研究其电致发光行为。将制作单独的测试结构，并展示EL性能。在第二阶段，我们将制作多像素单色硅EL显示器，并探索多色硅EL显示器的制备。

Spire recently demonstrated bright visible light emission from Silicon quantum wires. Silicon substrates were electrochemically etched to produce a porous surface with nanometer size Si columns (quantum wires). When excited with a blue laser beam, or UV light (photoluminescence), or when immersed in an H2O:NaC1 electrolyte under an electric field, the treated samples emitted very bright red light. Moreover, we demonstrated that it is possible to tailor the emission spectrum by anodizing Si-based alloys such as Si1-xGex or ion implanted Si (e.g., Er+-implanted Si). If strong electroluminescence (EL) can be demonstrated in this material then the driver electronics and light- emitting elements of a flat panel display can be integrated into the same Si substrate. This development would result in significant reduction of display panel fabrication steps and cost. We believe that these recent findings, combined with mature Si electronics technology, offer a rare opportunity for a major advance in commercial flat-panel display technology. We propose a program to investigate fabrication of monochrome or multi- color Si flat-panel displays. In Phase I, we will optimize processing of Si quantum wires and study electroluminescent behavior. Individual test structures will be fabricated and EL performance demonstrated. In Phase II, we will fabricate multi-pixel monochrome Si EL displays and explore fabrication of multi-color Si EL displays.