System-on-Panel Technology
An Entire Electronic Product Integrated on a Single Substrate
 | At the dawn of the mobile multi-media age, high resolution liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are becoming the central feature of many consumer products. At the forefront of this trend, Sharp Laboratories of Europe and Sharp Laboratories of America are actively researching next generation Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display technology.
Today's highest performance TFT displays are fabricated using polysilicon TFTs, which offer improved performance over conventional amorphous silicon TFTs. Low temperature polysilicon displays are setting the pace for high functionality personal information tools. SHARP, in collaboration with Semiconductor Energy Laboratories, has developed a very high performance TFT technology, called Continuous Grain (CG) Silicon. Using a propriety crystallization technique, the new TFTs can achieve electron mobility in excess of 300 cm2/Vs, which is higher than conventional polysilicon and is comparable to single-crystal silicon. The high performance of new TFT processes enables the monolithic integration of analog and digital display driver circuits as well as other peripheral functions on the active matrix substrate. The resultant LCD modules have increased display functionality, performance, and reliability. As this technology matures, we can look forward to entire electronic products integrated on a single substrate and ultra-compact 'System-on-Panel' products in the future. |