基于改善AMOLED TFT均匀性和稳定性像素补偿电路

有机发光二极管显示器(OLED)正越来越多地用于中小尺寸的显示,但在大尺寸方面进展缓慢,因为在有源大尺寸方面对OLED的稳定性和均匀性要求较高,需要设计像素补偿电路。各研究机构提出了像素补偿电路用于改善OLED的均匀性和稳定性等问题,文中对目前采用有源OLED的α-Si TFT和p-Si TFT的各种像素补偿电路进行了分析。分析结果表明,文中设计方案取得了一定的效果,但尚存不足。     

有源矩阵有机电致发光像素电路的研究进展

有源驱动方式的有机发光二极管（AMOLED）较之无源驱动方式易于实现高亮度和高分辨率、功耗更小,更适合大屏幕显示。但传统的两管驱动电路会出现驱动管阈值电压在整个屏幕上分布不均匀,或长时间加偏压后驱动管的阂值电压发生漂移。本文在两管驱动电路的基础上介绍了几种最近提出的补偿电路并描述了它们的改善效果及各自存在的问题。     

Amorphous Silicon Display Backplanes on Plastic Substrates

Amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film transistor (TFT) backplanes are very promising for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode displays (AMOLEDs) on plastic. The technology benefits from a large manufacturing base, simple fabrication process, and low production cost. The concern lies in the instability of the TFTs threshold voltage (V_T) and its low device mobility. Although V_T-instability can be compensated by means of advanced multi-transistor pixel circuits, the lifetime of the display is still dependent on the TFT process quality and bias conditions. A-Si TFTs with field-effect mobility of 1.1 cm²/Vmiddots and pixel driver circuits have been fabricated on plastic substrates at 150 degC. The circuits are characterized in terms of current drive capability and long-term stability of operation. The results demonstrate sufficient and stable current delivery and the ability of the backplane on plastic to meet AMOLED requirements     

Device and circuit level optimization for high performance a-Si:H TFT-based AMOLED displays

Active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays with amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistor (TFT) backplanes are becoming the state of art in display technology. Though a-Si:H TFTs suffer from an intrinsic device instability, which inturn leads to an instability in pixel brightness, there have been many pixel driving methods that have been introduced to counter this. However, there are issues with these circuits which limit their applicability in terms of speed and resolution. This paper highlights these issues and provides detailed design considerations for the choice of pixel driver circuits in general. In particular, we discuss the circuit and device level optimization of the pixel driver circuit in a-Si:H TFT AMOLED, displays for high gray scale accuracy, subject to constraints of power consumption, and temporal and spatial resolution.     

Enhancement of Brightness Uniformity by a New Voltage-Modulated Pixel Design for AMOLED Displays

This letter presents a new pixel design and driving method for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays using low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (TFTs). The proposed pixel circuit consists of five TFTs and one capacitor to eliminate the variation in the threshold voltage of the TFTs, and the drop in the supply voltage in a single frame operation by the source-follower-type connection and the bootstrap. The proposed pixel circuit has been verified to realize uniform output current by the simulation work using the HSPICE software. The novel pixel design has great potential for use in large-size and high-resolution AMOLED displays.     

A poly-Si AMOLED display with high uniformity

An active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display based on the polycrystalline silicon backplane technology has been fabricated that employs a new pixel circuit to compensate for the variation in the threshold voltage of the thin film transistors (TFT). The new pixel circuit also copes with the voltage drop in the supply line and a very high contrast ratio can be achieved. The uniformity of the new AMOLED display is remarkably improved compared with the basic two-TFT pixel structure, and it can be readily applied in the mass production of commercial AMOLED displays.     

A New Pixel Circuit Compensating for Brightness Variation in Large Size and High Resolution AMOLED Displays

A new pixel design and driving method for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display using low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistor (LTPS-TFT) is proposed. The new circuit consists of five TFTs and one capacitor to eliminate the variation in the threshold voltage of the TFTs, and the drop in the supply voltage in a single frame operation. The proposed pixel circuit has been verified to realize uniform output current by the simulation work using HSPICE software. The simulated error rate of the output current is also discussed in this paper. The novel pixel design has great potential for use in large size and high resolution AMOLED displays.     

一种基于低温多晶硅薄膜晶体管的交流AMOLED像素补偿电路

This paper presents a new poly-Si pixel circuit employing AC driving mode for active matrix organic light-emitting diode （AMOLED） displays. The proposed pixel circuit, which consists of one driving thin-film tran- sistor （TFT）, three switching TFTs, and one storage capacitor, can effectively compensate for the threshold voltage variation in poly-Si and the OLED degradation. As there is no light emission, except for during the emitting period, and a small number of devices used in the proposed pixel circuit, a high contrast ratio and a high pixel aperture ratio can be easily achieved. Simulation results by SMART-SPICE software show that the non-uniformity of the OLED current for the proposed pixel circuit is significantly decreased （〈 10%） with an average value of 2.63%, while that of the conventional 2T1C is 103%. Thus the brightness uniformity of AMOLED displays can be improved by using the proposed pixel circuit.     

Amorphous silicon thin film transistor circuit integration for organic LED displays on glass and plastic

This paper presents design considerations along with measurement results pertinent to hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film transistor (TFT) drive circuits for active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays. We describe both pixel architectures and TFT circuit topologies that are amenable for vertically integrated, high aperture ratio pixels. Here, the OLED layer is integrated directly above the TFT circuit layer, to provide an active pixel area that is at least 90% of the total pixel area with an aperture ratio that remains virtually independent of scaling. Both voltage-programmed and current-programmed drive circuits are considered. The latter provides compensation for shifts in device characteristics due to metastable shifts in the threshold voltage of the TFT. Various drive circuits on glass and plastic were fabricated and tested. Integration of on-panel gate drivers is also discussed where we present the architecture of an a-Si:H based gate de-multiplexer that is threshold voltage shift invariant. In addition, a programmable current mirror with good linearity and stability is presented. Programmable current sources are an essential requirement in the design of source driver output stages.     

A new voltage-modulated AMOLED pixel design compensating for threshold voltage variation in poly-Si TFTs

A new voltage-modulated active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) pixel design, which successfully compensates for the threshold voltage variations in poly-Si thin-film transitors (TFTs), is proposed, and verified by SPICE simulation and experiments. In order to compensate for variations in OLED current, the proposed pixel design employs a new voltage modulation scheme using diode connections.     

Functional Pixel Circuits for Elastic AMOLED Displays

While fabrication of active matrix organic LED (AMOLED) displays on plastic substrates continues to face technological challenges, stable electrical operation of thin-film transistor (TFT) pixel circuits under mechanical stress induced by substrate bending remains a critical issue. This paper investigates strain-induced shifts in hydrogenated amorphous silicon TFT characteristics and the compound impact on TFT circuit behavior. Measurements show that the magnitude of the shifts is determined by the direction of current flow in the TFT with respect to the bending stress orientation as well as bias conditions. Physically based compact models are developed that relate device characteristics to material behavior for design and optimization of AMOLED pixel circuits that can maintain immunity to bending stress. In particular, current mirror-based pixel circuits are presented that compensate for the long term threshold voltage shift and instantaneous strain-induced shifts in device characteristics.     

A new a-Si:H TFT pixel circuit compensating the threshold voltage shift of a-Si:H TFT and OLED for active matrix OLED

We propose a new hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film transistor (a-Si:H TFT) pixel circuit for an active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) employing a voltage programming. The proposed a-Si:H TFT pixel circuit, which consists of five switching TFTs, one driving TFT, and one capacitor, successfully minimizes a decrease of OLED current caused by threshold voltage degradation of a-Si:H TFT and OLED. Our experimental results, based on the bias-temperature stress, exhibit that the output current for OLED is decreased by 7% in the proposed pixel, while it is decreased by 28% in the conventional 2-TFT pixel.     

具有顶部发光结构的AMOLED交流驱动电路

A new voltage programmed pixel circuit with top emission design for active-matrix organic lightemitting diode(AMOLED) displays is presented and verified by HSPICE simulations.The proposed pixel circuit consists of five poly-Si TFTs,and can effectively compensate for the threshold voltage variation of the driving TFT.Meanwhile,the proposed pixel circuit offers an AC driving mode for the OLED by the two adjacent pulse voltage sources,which can suppress the degradation of the OLED.Moreover,a high contrast ratio can be achieved by the proposed pixel circuit since the OLED does not emit any light except for the emission period.     

Restraining for switching effects in an AC driving pixel circuit of the OLED-on-silicon

The AC driving scheme for OLEDs,which uses the pixel circuit with two transistors and one capacitor(2T1C),can extend the lifetime of the active matrix organic light-emitting diode(AMOLED) on silicon,but there are switching effects during the switch of AC signals,which result in the voltage variation on the storage capacitor and cause the current glitch in OLED.That would decrease the gray scale of the OLED.This paper proposes a novel pixel circuit consisting of three transistors and one capacitor to realize...     

Comparison of Pentacene and Amorphous Silicon AMOLED Display Driver Circuits

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays offer distinct advantages over liquid crystal displays for portable electronics applications, including light weight, high brightness, low power consumption, wide viewing angle, and low processing costs. They also are attractive candidates for highly flexible substrates. In active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays, a small transistor circuit is used to drive each OLED device. This paper compares the simulated performance of two state-of-the-art AMOLED drivers with a proposed 5 thin-film-transistor (TFT) voltage programmed driver circuit which combines the advantages of the first two configurations. A competitive evaluation is also done between amorphous silicon (alpha-Si) and organic TFTs (OTFTs,) using comparable empirical device models for alpha-Si) and pentacene OTFTs. The 5-TFT circuit is found to match the speed of the 2-TFT while achieving a stability closer to the 4-TFT circuits and demonstrating a better speed-stability tradeoff.     

Electrical Compensation of OLED Luminance Degradation

This letter presents a stable compensation scheme for active-matrix organic light-emitting-diode (AMOLED) displays based on the observed strong interdependence between the luminance degradation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and its current drop under bias stress. This feedback-based compensation provides 30% improvement in luminance stability under 1600 h of accelerative stress. To employ this scheme in AMOLED displays, a new pixel circuit is presented that provides on-pixel electrical access to the OLED current without compromising the aperture ratio.     

A novel a-Si:H AMOLED pixel circuit based on short-term stress stability of a-Si:H TFTs

This letter presents a novel pixel circuit for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) active matrix organic light-emitting diode displays employing the short-term stress stability characteristics of a-Si:H thin film transistors (TFTs). The pixel circuit uses a programming TFT that is under stress during the programming cycle and unstressed during the drive cycle. The threshold voltage shift (V/sub T/-shift) of the TFT under these conditions is negligible. The programming TFT in turn regulates the current of the drive TFT, and the pixel current therefore becomes independent of the threshold voltage of the drive TFT.     

Characterization of AMOLED pixel circuit without power line

We fabricated and evaluated the simple active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) pixel circuits without power line and proved that it is useful for the AMOLED display. Without power line in the pixel circuit we got higher-aperture ratio of emission area than the pixel with power line and the pixel with high aperture ratio can give a long life time due to lower current density of organic light emitting diode. However, the lack of power line requires the verification of the driving scheme of the pixel circuit. After fabrication of two types of AMOLED with and without power line in the pixel, we evaluated the pixel currents under various conditions. The operation of the pixel circuit without power line gave similar characteristics to that of the pixel circuit with power line. By the comparison, we verified that the pixel without power line is acceptable for the application to the AMOLED display combined with feedback compensation scheme for the uniform brightness.     

Accelerated stress testing of a-Si:H pixel circuits for AMOLED displays

Electronics reliability testing is traditionally carried out by accelerating the failure mechanisms using high temperature and high stress, and then predicting the real-life performance with the Arrhenius model. Such methods have also been applied to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) testing to predict lifetimes of tens of thousands of hours. However, testing the active matrix OLED thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane is a unique and complex case where standard accelerated testing cannot be directly applied. This is because the failure mechanism of pixel circuits is governed by multiple material and device effects, which are compounded by the self-compensating nature of the circuits. In this paper, we define and characterize the factors affecting the primary failure mechanism and develop a general method for accelerated stress testing of TFT pixel circuits in a-Si AMOLED displays. The acceleration factors derived are based on high electrical and temperature stress, and can be used to significantly reduce the testing time required to guarantee a 30 000-h display backplane lifespan.     

A new pixel circuit for driving organic light-emitting diode with low temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors

A new pixel circuit design for active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED), based on the low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (LTPS-TFTs) is proposed and verified by SPICE simulation. Threshold voltage compensation pixel circuit consisting of four n-type TFTs, one p-type TFT, one additional control signal, and one storage capacitor is used to enhance display image quality. The simulation results show that this pixel circuit has high immunity to the variation of poly-Si TFT characteristics.